Snow Queen and Spring Princess
by Vigilluminatus
Summary: Anna doesn't have magic, but what if she wasn't entirely normal either? Looking at the tale of the Snow King and the Spring Maiden and the visions Anna and Elsa had since childhood, the movie might not be the first time that winter has been defeated by the bond between our heroines... sibling love, no romance, a bit of an origin story of Elsa's powers, starting with Anna's birth.
1. The birth of something magical

I'm such a sucker for sister-stories... oh how I wish I owned anything about "Frozen"... but I don't.

So I couldn't resist to write something about "Frozen", although I don't really have much time to write. Now what's this about: I was thinking that Anna seems to be a spring type with her strawberry bonde hair, her healthy, freckled skin and her blue eyes - so what if she really was connected to spring like Elsa is to winter? At the same time I find it clumsy just to pull supernatural powers out of my hat when in the film she clearly had none... although Elsa clearly needed her or at least her love for her sister to end the winter. So I thought, maybe this isn't the first time Anna has defeated winter this way? But I'm talking too much into it, mostly this will be just pure sibling fluff. I don't really have much of a concept what will follow this chapter, but there will be at least one more chapter of them as children.

* * *

**The birth of something magical**

Princess Elsa of Arendelle was disappointed. She wasn't fully grasping what was happening, but some time ago her mama and papa had told her that soon she would have a "sibling", a boy or a girl close to her age to play with. She had been delighted by that since all the other people in the castle they lived were way older than her. Sure, she liked playing with her Nanny Gerda and all the grown-ups were friendly to her, "because she'd be their queen once", as her papa had said. She hadn't really understood that since her mama was the queen, wasn't she?

Anyway, her mama's belly had grown really big and Elsa had been told constantly that her sibling was in there waiting to come out. She had been really restless these last weeks and often begged her sibling to come out so that they could play, but her parents had always laughed and told her that the boy or girl would be very tiny at first, like Elsa had been three years ago. Still, even if they couldn't play immediately, after all this time Elsa was really, really curious about her sibling, and, as said, disappointed that this was taking so long. Now it was spring, and Elsa wondered if he or she would be able to play with her when winter came back. Winter was her favorite season.

"Papa?" she asked her royal father tentatively. A few hours ago her father had taken her from her room and now they were in the big dining room. He had told her that her sibling would arrive here today, but while Elsa had been delighted to hear that, her papa seemed to be very serious. Well, he often was, but whenever her mama and papa had talked about the baby, they had been very happy. Elsa was understanding less and less about all of this. She also didn't want to play with her dolls or paint a picture as Gerda had asked her before she had disappeared, she finally wanted to see her sibling!

"Yes dear?" her father asked back after a second or so. He seemed strangely nervous now, looking out of the window and drumming his fingers on the large dinner table.

"Wanna see mama and baby," Elsa demanded.

The king finally cracked a smile and reached out to her with his hands. Elsa climbed down from her chair, walked over to him and let him pick her up, placing her on his knees. His hands were warm as usual. She knew that her parents had been very concerned because Elsa's skin always felt slightly cooler than other people's, but since Elsa hadn't shown any sign of sickness, they had accepted it eventually. Maybe her sibling would have cool skin too?

"We can't," her father answered her, smiling. "But the women will soon be done, then we can go see mama and the baby immediately."

"But papa is a king," Elsa argued, pouting. "Say we see them now!"

Her father laughed and ruffled her white hair. "No, dear, I can't," he told her. "Your mother is giving birth now, and at such a time men aren't needed. Not even kings."

"Birf?" Elsa wondered. She'd heard this word a lot lately, but she didn't really understand it.

"That means your sibling is now finally coming out of your mama's belly," her father explained.

"Too long!" Elsa whined, looking down. "Sibling is slow," she grumbled.

Her father laughed again and patted her head. "I really, really want to see them too," he admitted. "But it's no use, we have to wait. When you were born, it was exactly like this. Except I had no cute daughter to wait with me."

"Papa was alone?" Elsa wondered. She suddenly felt bad and hugged his chest.

"It was not so bad," he told her, caressing her hair. "This will be over soon too, you'll see..."

In this moment the door opened and Gerda stepped in. A smile was brightening her face. "Your Majesty," she announced. "You can see them now."

The king immediately stood up and left the room in a hurry, carrying Elsa in his arms.

"Papa," Elsa protested. She was a big girl already! "I can walk!"

"I'm sorry, dear, but papa is faster," her papa told her, not even looking at her while practically running through the corridors. "Don't you want to see your sibling now?"

"Mhm," Elsa said and nodded, her curiosity coming back. She wondered if her sibling would have white hair like her. Mama always said that no one but her had such special white hair. When they finally arrived at the door to her parent's room, her father paused shortly, taking a deep breath. Elsa wriggled in his grasp, wanting to enter NOW, but he didn't even notice. After a few painfully long moments he finally opened the door and walked inside.

The air was sticky. Normally Elsa would have hated that, she preferred clear winter air, but right now she was too fascinated by the scene before her to feel bothered. Her mama was lying in the big bed her parents used, looking very, very tired. But she was also smiling, brighter than Gerda even. She was also holding a small bundle of linen that made quiet noises and Elsa saw an incredibly tiny hand. Was that her sibling? There were also two more women in the room hastily cleaning it. Had her sibling already made a mess?

"Honey, Elsa," her mother said, her voice sounding relieved. "Meet Anna."

"A girl?" Elsa's father asked excitedly while making a step toward the bed. "Another daughter?" He looked at Elsa. "Elsa, you have a sister!"

"Sister," Elsa repeated. Then she blinked. "Anna?" That was a word she didn't know. What did it mean?

"That's her name," her father told her while he sat down next to his wife. "You are Elsa. This is Anna."

"Anna." Elsa smiled. That was easy to say. She liked it. "Wanna see!"

"Of course," her mother said, smiling while carefully removing the layer of cloth shielding the baby from her view.

"She's beautiful," her father breathed and softly caressed Anna's head, causing the infant to whimper.

Elsa was less impressed. She had hoped that her sister would be a little bigger so that they'd be able to play together sooner. And she had hardly any hair, just some very short reddish locks. And yet Elsa felt somehow... drawn to her sister's eyes. They were closed right now while her mother mumbled something to calm Anna down, but Elsa felt like she needed to see them.

"Anna!" she said, reaching out with her hands.

"Do you want to greet her too, Elsa?" her father asked. When she nodded, he sat her on the bed.

"Be careful, Elsa," her mother warned her. "Anna is still a bit scared."

Elsa nodded again and positioned herself next to the baby. Anna's eyes were still closed, her tiny hand making kinda cute grabbing motions. Elsa imitates her father's gestures, caressing Anna's round cheek. "Hello Anna," she said quietly. "I'm Elsa."

Anna opened her deep blue eyes, looked at Elsa and... something happened. Elsa didn't know what it was. Suddenly she saw something... something that wasn't really here, but it was beautiful! It was a castle built solely out of ice, shimmering in the winter sun. And then her fingers suddenly felt cold. Not cool as usual, but cold! She yanked her hand away from Anna's cheek immediately and the baby started crying.

"Oh my god!" her mother exclaimed, pulling Anna to her chest and looking at Elsa, clearly shaken. "Elsa, what happened?"

"I don't know," Elsa cried, tears forming in her eyes. "Cold!"

Her mother's hand flew to Anna's cheek and her face paled. "It's cold!" she confirmed. "Honey, call the midwifes back!"

Her father picked Elsa out and ran out, shouting for the other women. Elsa was softly crying. What was happening here? Her mama was upset, Anna was cold and crying and nothing was making sense anymore. A few minutes later her father took her back into her room and sat her onto her bed.

"There, there," he said. "Calm down, Elsa. Everything will be alright, I promise." But his face was worried.

"Am... am I bad?" Elsa asked meekly, trying to stop crying.

"No, no, you're not bad," he assured her, gently stroking her hair. "Tomorrow everything will be better, you'll see."

"Why is Anna cold?" Elsa asked, her tears finally stopping.

"I don't know. But I'm sure it's nothing bad." He stood up. "I must go back to your mother now. I'll send Gerda to look after you. And I will tell you immediately when Anna and your mother are alright." He put his hand on Elsa's shoulder. "Are you big enough to stay alone for a little while, Elsa?"

Elsa didn't want her papa to leave her. She was confused and not sure how she felt about her new sibling. But she always bragged in front of her parents about how much of a big girl she already was. So she just nodded.

Her father smiled. "Brave girl," he told her. Then he left the room. Elsa sniffed.

* * *

It was a few hours later. Her father had come back, telling her that there was nothing wrong with Anna and that her mother had calmed down. And no, she was not at all angry at Elsa. Just very, very tired. And her papa had to do many things now that he was allowed to do things again. Then he had left again, and since Elsa really wasn't in the mood to play right now, she had told Gerda she would sleep for a while and the woman had left too.

But Elsa couldn't sleep. There were far too many questions in her head. Why was Anna so cold and why had she started crying when Elsa had touched her? Her eye color was pretty by the way, Elsa liked blue. Did her sister not like her? But why? Elsa had done nothing wrong! Why was her papa so busy now? And why was her mama so tired? Was that because of Anna too? Did she want to take Elsa's parents away from her? But why had papa told her that she and Anna would be best friends then? Elsa became a little angry.

"Anna's fault!" she decided and pouted. Well, as long as Anna didn't apologize, Elsa wouldn't talk to her, she decided and pointed at the mirror on the wall. That would teach her!

And then suddenly a ray of frost shot out of her finger and coated the mirror with rime. Elsa yelped and sat up in bed, pulling her arm back and pressing it against her chest. What was that? Had she done that? Why was her hand feeling so energized right now? She looked at the mirror in disbelief and then at her hand. It looked like always, except for the finger that was coated in melting rime. Elsa had never been bothered by coldness, but it wasn't even feeling cool right now!

"My cold," Elsa realized. It hadn't been Anna that had turned cold suddenly. It had been Elsa's fault! She didn't know how, this had never happened before, but her hand had probably turned cold suddenly, just like now, and she had scared her new sister. Suddenly Elsa felt very bad.

"I say sorry," she told herself. She had thought very bad things about Anna. And her parents always said, when you do something wrong you have to apologize. She got out of her bed and walked to the door, opening it. No one was there. Maybe they were with her papa now? After all he had things to do again. No matter, Elsa didn't need help for this. She was a big girl. She walked over to her parent's room. Fortunately the door wasn't closed since she wasn't QUITE big enough to reach the doorknob. She pushed the door open and looked in.

Her mama was sleeping. Anna was in her arms, also sleeping. Elsa was glad she wasn't crying anymore. No one else was in the room. Elsa quietly entered and sneaked closer. She didn't want to wake them. Since she wasn't tall enough to climb onto her parent's big bed, she just stopped standing in front of it, looking up at her sleeping mother and sister.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. Then she smiled. "Anna is nice."

"Elsa?" She turned around. Her father had entered the room, puzzled to see her here. "What are you doing here?"

Elsa pointed at her sister. "I say sorry Anna," she explained with all the sincerity of a three-year-old princess.

"You apologized to Anna?" her papa clarified, starting to smile. "Because you made her cry?"

Elsa nodded. Her father picked her up.

"Elsa, that wasn't your fault," he told her and kissed her on the cheek. Elsa grinned. She had done good! "That was very nice of you." He looked at his wife and daughter. The first was way too exhausted to hear them, but Anna was stirring. "Let's go," he told Elsa quietly. "They need to sleep. We can come back later."

Elsa looked back and waved at Anna, although the baby was still asleep. Then she and her papa left the room.

"Are you hungry?" her father asked her. Elsa nodded. "Then let's eat something." He put her down, took her hand and they started walking.

"Papa?" Elsa asked. "Anna like me now?"

"Anna is still very little, dear," her father explained. "But when she gets bigger and you are nice to her, then she will be your best friend."

"Sister," Elsa repeated what she heard earlier.

"Yes, she is your little sister. But when she gets bigger, she will like you and you can play together."

"I'm cold," Elsa tried to tell her father about what happened in her room with the mirror.

"You are cold?" he asked when they reached the dining room and he sat her on her seat. "Then we need something warm to eat. Wait here, I'll call the staff."

Elsa frowned. Her papa was wrong. She didn't feel cold at all. She had tried to tell him that she could do funny things with ice now. But she didn't know the right words. She put her hand on the table and giggled as a small part of it became coated with rime. She wondered if Anna could do this too?

Then she started grinning. This could be Anna's and her secret! Perhaps Anna would like her even more if they shared a secret? When her father came back and the staff brought them a meal, she sat down quietly and ate. Tomorrow she would tell Anna what she could do. Elsa hoped that her sister would like it. They would have so much fun together, she and her new sibling!

* * *

For parents: I sadly have no children of my own, so I have no idea, if a three-year-old really talks this way. Is Elsa believable?

shloop: Thanks, I changed Elsa's speech a bit. I hope it's better that way. As said, I have no children and English isn't my mother tongue, so it's hard to imagine how an English-speaking three-year-old would talk.


	2. The Snow King and the Spring Maiden

Well then. Another chapter from Elsa's and Anna's childhood, with a bit more supernatural stuff mixed in it. This time Elsa is 5 and Anna is 2 and both are still adorable... maybe too much. Tell me, is the story becoming too sappy? I hope the fairy tale I wrote sounds right, it's a bit hard to write a formalized genre in a foreign language.

* * *

**The Snow King and the Spring Maiden**

It had taken way more time than Elsa had thought. In her first year of life Anna couldn't walk, so play was pretty much limited to Anna's nursery. So Elsa's wish to show her new sibling the joys of winter didn't come true that year. Strangely enough the white-haired girl wasn't all that disappointed. Maybe it was their parent's constant reassurance that Anna very would soon be old enough to walk and talk with her, maybe it was the fact that she now had someone to play with at all since the people who lived around the castle knew she was the princess and barely allowed their children to walk up to her, let alone play. Perhaps it was also the fact that Anna had warmed up to her sister very fast and nearly always was delighted when Elsa came to play with her, even if it was only very simple games like rolling a ball between them or Elsa improvising a story with her dolls for Anna. Both of them loved stories, even when Anna couldn't really understand what her sister was telling her, but her laughter was enough reason for Elsa to make up even more fantastic tales.

Sadly their parents had found out about Elsa's mysterious "magic", as they called it and they had told her in a very serious way that Anna was very vulnerable and that Elsa should not use these powers around her little sister. But since Anna had already seen what Elsa could do and absolutely loved small showers of snow, ice flowers on the window and the tiny ice statues Elsa made for her, Elsa sometimes couldn't resist. Anna adored her older sister's skill and mostly a little bit of begging with her cute little bit of language was enough to make an exception of Elsa's promise to her parents. And well, nothing had happened, so what was the harm?

And since Anna had now reached the glorious adventure age of nearly two years, she could finally accompany her sister outside, even if a grown-up was always with them. Now it was winter again, and to Elsa's utmost delight they had discovered that Anna liked real snow nearly just as much as Elsa – especially because of what Elsa could DO with it, when the grown-up wasn't looking –, even though the baby didn't like the cold that came with it and couldn't stay outside as long as Elsa would have liked. Still it made Elsa enjoy the company of her little sister even more.

The only sad thing was that grown-ups nearly always were around. Especially their mother. Not that this was a bad thing per se. Elsa loved her parents and no thrilling, tragic or sappy doll play she could imagine could compare to their mama simply entering the room in case of immediately catching Anna's attention. And Elsa was thrilled when their mother took the time and read a story to both of them – from one of the big books in the library! But when grown-ups were present, Elsa didn't dare to use her powers in front of Anna, which was a bit frustrating for both of them – Elsa not being able to relish in her sister's adoration and Anna often beginning to cry, which was hard for Elsa to explain.

But all in all it was a great childhood. Elsa couldn't even imagine anymore how she got by in these three years before Anna came along and Anna couldn't be more happy to have "Esa" as a sister. Well, she'd learn Elsa's real name soon enough, at least their mother was convinced of it. Today it had been a sunny day and both of them had been allowed to play outside in the snow for a while. Anna had been ecstatic when Elsa had allowed her to help her older sister building a snowman – although she hadn't really been much of a help, but it was fun watching her try to roll a snow ball around –, and Elsa had even been able to do a little snow magic when Gerda had her eyes elsewhere. And now both of them were in Anna's room and Elsa was currently telling Anna the epic tale of Elsa the Sneaky and her daring raid of the kitchen today.

"... and then Alva turned around and Elsa hid under the table. And Alva asked 'Who is there?' and Elsa was very, very quiet. But then someone came into the kitchen! Do you know who, Anna?"

Anna giggled at her sister's antics and clapped her hands. Elsa was trying to imitate their mother, who always used her voice dramatically when she told them a story, soft most of the time, but low and suddenly loud and pronounced in dramatic scenes, but with her five years she still hadn't quite figured out how it worked. Fortunately Anna didn't really understand what Elsa was telling her, but was quite pleased by the performance altogether.

"My, my," an amused voice suddenly made itself known behind them. "It seems you don't need me to tell a story today, do you?"

"Mama!"

Her story was forgotten. Elsa jumped on her feet and ran into her mother's embrace, Anna following her a little slower, but with just as much enthusiasm.

"My little angels," their mother said warmly after some hugs and kisses. "Have you had fun today?"

"Fun!" Anna announced excitedly. She pointed at her sister. "Esa sow!"

Elsa froze for a second – thank god not literally –, but her mother didn't seem to notice it.

"Did Elsa play in the the snow with you?" the queen asked Anna, the gentle smile never leaving her face. She faced Elsa. "And you, dear? Did you have fun too?"

A true smile formed on Elsa's face. "Yes," she confirmed. "Anna helped building a snowman."

The queen kissed both the strawberry-haired and the white-haired head in front of her. "Ah, you are both growing up so fast," she sighed and pushed her daughters away gently. "Soon you'll both be beautiful young women... and then you won't need me anymore to read stories to you."

"No, we always want mama's stories!" Elsa objected, looking at Anna. "Right, Anna?"

"Sory!" Anna agreed, proud to be included in the conversation.

"Oh, this means so very much to me," their mother exclaimed theatrically and then picked up Anna, placing her on her lap while sitting down on Anna's bed. Elsa immediately took place right next to them. And then their mother opened the book she had brought with her, a big tome her daughters had already seen quite often, full of great stories. "Then let's see what we will read today!" She opened the book and smiled. Elsa looked at the page, eager to anticipate what the story would be about, but sadly she could not yet read. She made a mental note to remind her parents again that she wanted to be able to read as soon as possible. Her mother was a great narrator, and Elsa was eager to be just like her one day.

"'The Snow King and the Spring Maiden'", their mother read. "Ah, that is a beautiful story. Perfect for a winter evening."

"Who are they?" Elsa asked eagerly.

Their mother smiled, patting her head. "Patience, dear," she softly reprimanded her daughter. "Maybe Anna isn't ready yet."

"Read!" Anna demanded though, pointing at the page, pouting at her mother.

Their mother laughed. "Alright, alright," she gave in. "So, once upon a time there was a man and a woman, and they loved each other very much..."

"Love!" Anna interrupted excitedly. She knew this word! Mama, papa and Elsa said it very often! It was a good word!

"Yes, love," Elsa interjected, amused. "Anna loves mama and Elsa, right?"

"Ahem," their mother coughed and squeezed the shoulders of her daughters gently to get their attention. With two growing children she was long since used to such distractions. "Shall I stop reading?"

"No, please read, mama," Elsa quickly said, with Anna wondering what the two were talking about.

"Alright, and the man and the woman were still sad because they had no children. And one day, when the woman went outside, she saw an old woman. And this woman was a witch." The last sentence she whispered.

"What is a witch, mama?" Elsa asked. She knew it that she shouldn't interrupt her parents too much, but somehow this word seemed interesting to her.

"A witch can do strange things other people can't do," her mother explained. "Most of them are very evil."

That somehow disappointed Elsa. "Is this witch evil?" she asked.

"No," the queen said. "This witch was sad, because she was dying."

Elsa shut up. She hadn't fully grasped what death was yet, but she knew it was nothing good.

"Mama?" Anna asked. She understood way less than her sister, but she wanted some attention too.

Her mother smiled at her. "Of course, let's continue. Well, the witch was dying. And she told the woman: 'Woman, this is my end. But I want to do one last good deed before I die. So tell me, do you have a wish?'" When she said that, she changed her voice and screwed up her face enough to make Elsa flinch and Anna whimper. "And the woman was very afraid. But then she took heart and said: 'My husband and I love each other very much. But we have no children. So if you can help us, dear woman, please do so.' And the dying witch smiled. 'That was a good wish,' she said. 'Worthy of fulfilling. And so I say: In one year you shall give birth to a boy. And three years later your wish shall be fulfilled.' And with that, the old witch died. And the woman and the man buried her, as it was tradition."

"Mama, what is a wish?" Elsa asked. She was already five years old and understood many things her mother told her, but many of these stories her mother narrated so well were difficult to grasp.

"A wish is when you want something very dearly... like you wanted Anna to be born two years ago," the queen explained. "And a wish fulfilled is a wish that happens." She pulled both of her daughters closer. "And Anna is here now, isn't she? So your wish was fulfilled."

"I understand," Elsa exclaimed proudly. "Please read, mama."

"Well then. The woman didn't really understand what the witch said. The witch had said the woman would have a boy. That was her wish. But the witch had also said the wish would come true three years later." The queen looked at her two daughters questioningly. "That's strange, is it not?"

Elsa thought that she had interrupted her mother often enough, so she stayed silent and tried to follow the story. Anna didn't really have a clue, but just like her sister's before she loved her mama's antics, so she mimicked the queen's face and looked back questioningly.

"And as the witch had predicted," their mother concluded, "the woman gave birth to a beautiful baby boy one year later."

"Birth," Elsa whispered. She remembered that word. Anna came after that. She shook her head, as her mother looked at her, wanting her to continue.

Her mother turned the page. "And the little boy was special. He looked just like everyone else, but he had hair white as freshly fallen snow."

"Sow!" Anna had spotted a crude picture of a human face with white hair on the page. Then she pointed at her sister. "Esa!"

This time both Elsa and her mother had to smile. Anna was simply adorable when she was excited.

"That is not me, Anna," Elsa said calmly, shaking her head. Anna looked at her, confused.

"It's not," their mother agreed. "That's the Snow King. And he had not only snow-white hair, but his skin felt like ice."

Elsa had never experienced how a chill down her spine felt. But if he had, she would have recognized the feeling now.

"But the woman and the man didn't care. The boy was strange, but they raised him as their son, and they were happy like never before. And three years later, another miracle happened: Because the woman gave birth to a daughter."

Suddenly, Elsa had the strangest feeling ever. She felt like she was looking through the eyes of another person... and this person, roughly as big as she was, was staring at an oddly foreign yet familiar woman, holding a newborn baby in her arms. "Look at her," the woman said. "This is your new sister." Elsa blinked and the vision was suddenly gone. But her mother's story had continued.

"... and when the boy touched his sister, his witch powers awoke! And suddenly a winter came into the small town like never before. So much snow fell that the strongest men in the small town had to use all the strength to move these white walls aside. And the man and the woman became very scared. They looked at the white-haired boy and they said: 'This is your doing! Begone!' And that white-haired boy just stared at them, and they could see that he felt hurt. And then he said: 'I will go. But the snow will not.' And so he left.

But as he said, the snow did not. Oh, the snow melted in spring, but in the next winter it came back, and it was more than before. And in the following year the winter was even worse. And it continued that way until the small girl had grown into a beautiful young woman."

Elsa felt strange. There were many words she didn't know in this story... and yet she understood everything. It was... as if she had known this story already... Her trance-like state was such that she didn't even notice that her mother ended her pause and continued.

"And the young girl was much beloved. Despite the horrible winters that came back year after year, the girl's compassion and kindness made the people believe that the next winter would not be so bad and that they could overcome everything. And one day, on a particularly cold winter evening, the man and the woman talked. And the woman said: 'This is our fault. This is our son.' And the young maiden heard that. And she asked: 'Whom are you talking about?' And the parents said: 'About our son. You are the sister of the Snow King.'"

"Sisser!" Anna exclaimed triumphantly. She knew what that meant! But when she looked at Elsa, the girl looked kinda strange. "Esa?" she asked.

The queen looked at her other daughter and she was alarmed. Elsa was looking straight ahead, but there was no doubt that she did not see what was happening right in front of her. The queen gently shook her daughter. "Elsa?"

"Huh?" Elsa made. She smiled, but somehow... it didn't seem right. "Good story, mama. Please read!"

The queen wasn't quite convinced, but she continued: "And when the young girl heard that, she felt very sad. 'How could you not tell me that I have a sibling!' she scolded her parents. 'He is probably alone out there, with no one who loves him!' And with that she packed her things and left her home to search for the brother she had never known.

It was not easy. The snow itself seemed adamant to slow her down at every opportunity. But the young woman was more strong-willed than mere snow. And finally, one day she was standing in front of the ice palace of the Snow King."

Elsa's eyes widened, but neither her sister nor her mother noticed.

"And when the young maiden entered, no one was there. But she was not afraid. She walked through the countless halls of ice until she finally reached the throne room, where the Snow King was waiting for her.

And the boy still had white hair, and his skin was still pale, but his eyes were hard. He was cold and dark, but the girl was still unafraid. And still he did not recognize his sister, and he asked..."

She knew this girl! Elsa was sure that she had never seen her, but nevertheless there was somewhat familiar about the girl that was standing right in front of her, in her own ice palace where no one dared to enter! Didn't she somehow look... like Anna? And without her consent her mouth started talking: "Have you come here to beseech me to spare your village, girl? Or do you seek revenge against winter itself?"

When she finally realized that the tale had stopped, she shook off the trance she had been in. Her mother was looking at her positively shocked, and even Anna seemed to be a bit worried.

"How do you know what the Snow King said, Elsa?" her mother whispered. Then she blinked. "Have I told you this story before?"

Elsa wasn't quite aware what a lie was. She knew that her parents often got sad when she said something that was not right... but right now, in this moment, something told her that her mama would not be said if she said something false.

"Gerda," she said, looking straight into her mother's eyes and ignoring Anna's strange glance.

"Oh," her mother uttered and sighed. "So Gerda told you this story. You should have told me, dear. Well, I can read you another one if..."

"No!" Elsa herself was surprised by the force behind her voice. "Anna does not know!" she asserted, pointing at her sister. Her mother looked at her youngest daughter doubtingly, but since Anna did still not realize what the other two women were talking about, looking at her mother questioningly, the queen at last coughed and continued with the story.

"Well... and the girl told the Snow King, unafraid: 'I am your sister, your Highness. And I have come because I felt that you were lonely.'

The King was startled. Never before had someone talked to him like this before. And he looked into the heart of the young woman and he found no falseness in it.

'Very well,' the Snow King said. 'I see that you are indeed my sister. And it is my duty to offer you my hospitality for the night.' And he brought her to a big and beautiful room and told her: 'But be warned: Do not leave your room at night, my sister, or you will surely die.'"

But the girl was still not afraid. She waited until the king had left and then she followed him. And she saw that he went to bed. And soon he started to whimper and shout because he was having a terrible nightmare. 'Mother, father!' he shouted. 'Dont send me away!' And the girl felt great compassion for her poor brother, who did not look dark and terrifying anymore at all, and she sat down on his bed and she gently touched his face.

And in the same moment the curse of the heartless winter was broken and the spring came back and everything began to bloom. And the brother of the girl awakened and he finally recognized his sister as the Spring Maiden, who was destined to prevent his winters from getting worse and worse. And they both went back to their parents and they lived happily ever after."

The queen closed the book. "And it is said," she concluded the story, "that if there was a particularly cold winter the Snow King will be reborn as a human because his heart has been completely frozen. And if this happens, then the Spring Maiden is reborn too, so that she can teach him again that a loving heart will defeat even the coldest winter storm. The End."

The queen looked at her daughters. "What do you say, my angels? Was this a nice story?"

Anna clapped her hands. "Sory!" she shouted, seemingly being pleased. Elsa however looked worried.

"Oh dear, what's wrong?" the queen asked. Never before had Elsa shown such distress after listening to one of her stories.

Elsa pointed at her snow-white hair. "Snow King" she mumbled.

The queen smiled and hugged her eldest daughter. "No, no, Elsa, you are not the Snow King," she reassured the little girl. She was very proud and also a little bit worried that Elsa had even understood what this story was about. She'd have to talk to her husband later. "You are a beautiful princess. You are Anna's big sister. You are not evil."

"Esa nice sow!" Anna threw in, pointing at her older sister.

"See? Anna knows that you are nice. But it is your bedtime now. You need to go to your room."

But when the queen wanted to stand up, Elsa desperately clinged to her. The little girl looked like she was about to cry. The queen decided that she wouldn't use this book as source material ever again. But her daughter was still quite distraught right now.

"Elsa, what's wrong?" she asked her daughter in her gentlest voice. "Don't you want to go to your room?"

Elsa looked like she was about to cry. "Mama," she whimpered.

The queen was contemplating to take Elsa into her and her husband's bedroom for today, but then she had another idea. "Elsa, listen," she told the white-haired girl. "Would you like to stay with Anna tonight?" She looked at her younger daughter. "Anna, might Elsa stay with you tonight?"

"Esa Anna night-night," Anna agreed and patted her older sister's hand comfortingly. It was a bit strange, but somehow it seemed to the queen like the two-year-old knew exactly that her older sister needed comfort right now... and why. But since she already had much to think about, the queen let it go. And when her two daughter were finally lying in bed next to each other, falling asleep, she couldn't suppress a smile.

"Sweet dreams, my angels," she whispered and caressed their heads one last time before she stood up and left the room. This story had undoubtably been too grim for Elsa's poor mind. Next time she would try to find a better suited tale... maybe the one about the little mermaid?

Little did she know that this old tale was more than just mere legend...

* * *

I'm not sure... in the next chapters I have planned more visions from past lives while the sisters grow up, with different kinds of relationships. Although shorter flashes, I'm not sure how this will work either. Do you think such reincarnation stuff fits Elsa and Anna at all? And by the way, no, I don't plan to use the Snow King and the Spring Maiden again, I thought of them as just one past life in many... or should I rethink that too? Maybe as a cameo of Jack Frost from Rise of the Guardians? Please tell me.


	3. Only a dream

Alright, I decided to right now rather expand the story of the Snow King and the Spring Maiden in Elsa's and Anna's flashbacks instead of making up new lifes with them as parent/child or lovers for each chapter. I think it's better this way, but feel free to tell me what you think.

Frozen still doesn't belong to me. Dang it!

* * *

**Only a dream...**

Elsa was glad that this day was over. Maybe she was a bit unfair, but it was summer after all. She loved winter so much that, when its counterpart-season arrived, she became generally grumpy. It was this mixture of the constant heat, the brightness of colors everywhere and that everyone seemed so much happier now than in HER favorite season which annoyed her. The fact that in summer her parents used to travel a lot and weren't at home very often and Anna being nearly unbearably happy and always asking her to play outside didn't help either.

Well alright, now she WAS unfair. Anna didn't really prefer a season over another, her little sister was happy and bubbly nearly anytime. She enjoyed building snow sculptures and sledding just as much as running around in the summer sun, searching for the first flowers in spring and dancing – rather clumsily – in the autumn wind. Sometimes Elsa thought that Anna was a being made purely out of optimism, happiness and boundless energy. She herself was different. She did alright during spring and autumn, especially on cooler days, and she truly felt alive in winter, but summer... it just wasn't her time of the year.

She moaned. Still, she regretted what she did today. First it had been one of these REALLY hot days when the air itself seemed to wanna melt her, even when she was inside. Then the teaching today had been really boring. All this history stuff and math and learning about the different ranks of aristocracy was so... dry compared to the stories their mother had told them over the years. Especially without Anna. Since her sister was only four years old, she wasn't quite old enough to join her... and she bet with Anna here they would find ways to have fun even during the most boring lessons. Although, truth be told, Anna would have probably not stopped her from creating a small block of ice inside the teacher's trousers... more likely she would have encouraged Elsa. Still, they would have faced detention together, which wouldn't have been so bad.

Anna... that was her biggest failure today. But after detention her little sister had been there, a huge grin on her face and thirsting for action, when Elsa only wanted to retreat to her room, cool it down to nearly freezing the walls and rest. And when Anna hadn't listened to her tired pleas to just let her be, she had snapped. She had shouted at Anna that the smaller girl's good mood was unbearable, that sometimes she couldn't stand being around her and that she should get lost.

Anna's face had been haunting her the whole day. She had regretted these words immediately... especially because she had lost control of her powers and the book she had been carrying had been frozen. Thank god! She shuddered at the thought what could have happened if her hands had been free to point at Anna... but it had been bad enough. The small face of Elsa's only sister had lost all traces of happiness which made Anna such a lovable companion. The shock had been bad enough, but the hurt and the tears that followed had made Elsa feel like true scum. She had tried to apologize, but Anna ran away crying and the teacher, who had heard everything, came over and gave her the mother of all lectures.

Even worse was the talk that her father gave her. He didn't shout at her or give her any major punishment, actually he had even been quite understanding, with her having had a bad day and Anna sometimes being a bit too bubbly, but he still had been incredibly disappointed in her. He had told her in no uncertain terms that this was not acceptable behavior for a princess... or a big sister, and if this happened again, she WOULD be punished. Then he made her promise to apologize to Anna first thing tomorrow morning.

None of this had made her feel any better. Anna was not only her sister... she was her only true friend. Sure, she liked most of the staff and the people in town and she got along fine with some children of nobles that had visited the castle, but there was always distance, in space or behavior. But not with Anna. Elsa seriously doubted that Anna understood the concept behind "distance". The little girl was sunshine incarnate, wearing her heart on her sleeve all the time – and it was a quite chatty heart. Which Elsa had crushed.

She sighed. She had been lying awake for hours. If this went on she'd get no sleep at all. Spontaneously she slipped out of her bed. This was pointless. Surely Anna was fast asleep now, but even if she ended up apologizing to a wooden door, she had to do something NOW. Quietly she opened the door and slipped outside. Since it was in the middle of the night there wasn't a big risk she would run into someone... but after this long day she didn't really want to explain all of this to a grown-up, who'd just send her back to bed anyway. As she arrived in front of Anna's door, she pondered for a moment if she should knock or just assume that Anna was asleep and talk to the door?

That's when she heard it. It wasn't loud at all, she only heard it because it was completely silent right now. Was that... a sob? From inside Anna's room? Elsa pressed her ear against the door. Yes, it was. And it wasn't the last one. Not only was Anna still awake, she was also crying. Was it because of Elsa? Suddenly her heart felt like lead.

"Anna?" she asked softly. "Anna, what's wrong?"

Another sob. Then the weak voice of her little sister: "E-Elsa?"

She took that as a "Come in" and opened the door. What she saw, made her feel even more guilty. Anna looked like a picture of misery. Her face was tear-stained and she had formed a kind of cocoon with her blanket, trying to protect her whole body like if she was scared of something attacking her. Elsa wasted no more time, shut the door and went to Anna's bed as fast as she could. She immediately pulled her sister in a firm hug, trying to calm the whimpering girl down.

"Shhh, Anna," she whispered. "I'm here. Are you crying because of me?"

"Elsa," Anna sobbed, escaping her cocoon and hugging her sister back as firm as she could. "I-it was so scary!"

"What was scary, Anna?" Elsa asked softly. "Please tell me."

"B-" Sniff. "Bad dream."

"Bad dream? You have had a nightmare?" Anna silently nodded. "What was it about, Anna?"

"Us."

"Us?" Elsa blinked. "Anna, was it because I yelled at you earlier? Because I'm very, very sorry about..."

"No." Anna shook her head which wasn't so easy since it was firmly pressed against Elsa's chest. "Not that. I was a big girl." Then she stopped again and pressed her lips together.

Elsa sighed in relief. So at least this time she wasn't at fault for her sister crying. She laid down on the bed, pulling Anna with her. "Anna, no one can hurt you when I'm here, okay?" She felt Anna nodding more than she saw it. "So why don't you tell me about this nightmare? Then it won't be so frightening anymore."

"M-hm." Anna swallowed. "I was big. Big like Mirka." Mirka was a member of the staff, a girl which was about 20 years old. "And I was in a forest and it was cold. And people said things to me but were not there. They said things about Snow King."

Elsa had been caressing Anna's hair, but that caused her hand to stop. It had been more than two years since their mother had read them this story... but Elsa hadn't been able to forget it. Too similar the Snow King seemed to be to herself. Why was Anna dreaming of him now? She hadn't shown any particular interest in this story since then.

"The Snow King?" Elsa asked. "The Snow King mama told us about?"

"Mhm," Anna agreed. Her tears had now stopped and she seemed much calmer now that her sister was here to protect her.

"And you heard people saying things about the Snow King in your head?" Elsa made sure and started caressing Anna's hair again. "What did they say, Anna?"

"Bad things," Anna mumbled and pressed herself a little firmer against Elsa. "Said Snow King frost people dead."

"Froze," Elsa corrected her absent-mindedly.

"Said people are staff of Snow King. Bad doll people."

"Doll people?" Elsa raised an eyebrow. "How did they look, Anna?"

"Rocks. Big ears."

Elsa's eyes widened. She suddenly had a bad feeling in her stomach.

"You mean trolls?"

"Yes, droll people."

Elsa's thoughts were racing. First the Snow King, now the trolls! What kind of strange dream was this?

"Were the trolls bad, Anna?"

"No." Anna shook her head. "I said. I said to people don't fear droll people. I said to people don't fear Snow King cause I am Snow King's sister and Snow King needs me." Anna frowned. "But Snow King is not here with us."

Elsa smiled. "It was a dream, Anna," she told her sister. "Dreams are strange. So you were the sister of the Snow King and the Snow King was not bad and you were in a forest?"

Anna nodded. "Was cold. And dark. And it is scary and I call for Snow King, but no one comes. And then I am very weak and lie down in the snow. And then droll people come."

Elsa's heart started beating faster, but she hoped Anna wouldn't notice it. Now it was getting to the interesting part of this... dream.

"And they ask me who are you? And I tell them I am Snow King's sister and I need to see him. And I ask them why is he in this castle? And they say we give him what he needs here. It is better when he is here then when he is in the world outside. And I ask why is that better. And they say Snow King is dangerous." Anna looked up to Elsa. "But it is not right. I know that Snow King is just lonely."

Elsa nods. She suddenly felt great compassion for the Snow King. Everyone thinking that he was dangerous, even shoved away by his parents, and only his sister believing that he wasn't evil... it sounded like this was a horribly lonely life.

"I think so too," she told her sister. "And what happened then, Anna?"

Anna suddenly became shy. "Scary," she mumbled and looked away.

"Anna," she whispered and pulled her sister firmly against her, gently rocking her. "Don't be afraid. It will all be better when you have told me. I promise."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Anna sniffed. "And then I say to the droll people I don't care, I need to see Snow King. And they bring me to the castle but don't go inside. Snow King does not like people they say. And I go inside... and... and it's dark and there are ice people everywhere and they all looked scared." Another sniff and Elsa started stroking Anna's hair again. This calmed the little girl down a bit. "And... then I go more inside... and it's so dark and empty... and then I see him."

"The Snow King?"

Anna nodded and a sob escaped her. "It was a boy... with white hair. And I knew it was Elsa, but Elsa is no boy."

"How did you know it was me, Anna?" Elsa wondered.

"I don't know." Anna started crying again. "I don't know, I don't know..."

"Shhh, Anna." Elsa could tell that they were getting to the part of the nightmare that had scared Anna so much. "We are nearly through, aren't we? Tell me the rest. I promised you it will all be better then, didn't I?"

"Mhm," Anna whimpered. "A-and the boy that was you stands up from his seat, and... and... he says something to me, I don't know what. He was so angry... and I was so scared... and the big me didn't want to run away and then the boy Elsa came closer and he was getting more angry... he was making sharp ice... and I was so scared I woke up." Anna was fully crying now and holding onto her sister with all her strength. "And I was scared and looked for you. But then I remembered you were angry here too and..."

"Oh Anna!" Elsa exclaimed, feeling even more sorry for what she had said to her poor sister earlier today. "I'm not angry at you, Anna. Look at me! Look at me!" She pushed the weeping girl away from her gently, still holding her trembling shoulders. "Anna, I love you! And I am very, very sorry for what I said to you today! You don't annoy me, Anna, I love playing with you! I was just very, very busy and did not have time to play, but I NEVER should have yelled at you." She was relieved to see that Anna's trembling had stopped now, even if the little girl was still sobbing. "Anna, can you forgive me? I am really very, very sorry. You are the best little sister ever."

"M-mhm." Anna nodded.

"And you know that this was just a bad dream, yes? It cannot scare you anymore."

"Mhm."

That had sounded way less convincing. Elsa put her hand under Anna's chin and gently raised it, smiling encouragingly.

"How about this: I stay here with you tonight. Then no bad dream will dare to come in here."

Anna started to smile and nodded. They both lied down and Elsa reached for the blanket when she heard Anna's quiet voice.

"Elsa?"

She turned her head around. "Yes?"

Anna was looking at her shyly. "I love you."

Elsa smiled. Then she leaned down and kissed Anna's forehead. "Goodnight, little sister," she whispered. "Sweet dreams."

It didn't take Anna very long to fall asleep again. For Elsa it was not so easy. What kind of dream was that? It really reminded her of what she had seen when their mother had told them the story of the Snow King and the Spring Maiden... but darker. Or maybe that was just because Anna was younger than she had been and more easily scared. Was the story true? How could that be? And how could she and Anna know about it when they lived here and now? She pushed one of Anna's curls aside.

"We will find out what this means, Anna," she whispered although Anna couldn't hear her. "Then you won't be scared anymore."

Then she yawned. It was quite late after all. Now that this weight on her chest was gone she should probably try to get some sleep too. Maybe she should go play outside with Anna tomorrow... to make up for today. Yes... Anna would probably like that...

"Mmmm," she mumbled. "Wouldn't you?"

She could hardly lift an eyelid anymore. It didn't matter anyway. The grown-up girl that kinda was Anna but wasn't was still asleep right next to her. And Elsa suddenly was too tired to even wonder about this anymore. She fell asleep.

* * *

So, this is the last planned chapter with them as children... after that I wanted to focus on the events of the movie. Or does this story need even more adorable childhood chapters? Then I'd need help, I'm running out of ideas.


	4. Alone together

Holy...! I've finally seen the movie (yes, I wrote the first three chapters without first-hand knowledge) and man... this ending scene during "Do you want to build a snowman" is definitely in the top 3 of the saddest things I've ever seen in cinema. Masterfully done! So I had to write a chapter for that. Enjoy! Thanks for the reviews so far by the way.

* * *

**Alone together**

Princess Anna was sad. She hadn't seen her sister Elsa for a many weeks now. Yes, there had been times when Elsa was very busy studying – Anna still remembered how Elsa had yelled at her because of that about a year ago – but usually her big sister always found at least a little time to spend with her during the day, and that moments were the highlight of Anna's day. Anna had no real friends outside the castle, since with only five years she had never been allowed to leave the castle alone, and even if she had, the doors of the castle were closed now anyway.

And it had been so long now... and Anna was getting scared. It had been a shock when she had knocked on Elsa's door some time ago and the older girl had told her to go away in this cold voice. Elsa had not even opened her door. Anna had started crying and had run to her parents, telling them Elsa was mean, but that hadn't helped. They had not really told her anything. Anna was not dumb. She could tell by looking at them that something was troubling them. All they had said was that Elsa needed some time for herself and that Anna should "give her space". This was something new for Anna... and also frightening. She couldn't remember a time when she had been separated from her sister, her best friend for more than a few days, and that mostly when Anna had been sick. Elsa had never been sick. But even then Elsa had always come to her door and wished Anna a fast recovery or read her a story through the door or something like that.

And that was why she would not just sit around and wait, she had decided. Gerda had told her with a sad face that Elsa was still in her room, and now Anna was on her way there to make sure that her sister was getting better. She felt proud. Now she could repay Elsa for when she had made Anna feel better when the smaller girl had been sick. And even if right now she could just talk to Elsa through the door, she was sure that Elsa would feel better when she knew that Anna missed her.

She stopped at the door to Elsa's room. She shivered a bit. Since when was this part of the castle so cold? If Elsa was really sick, then her room should really be much warmer. She would ask Gerda or Kai later to rekindle the fire. She knocked at the door.

"Elsa?" she asked quietly. Then she remembered that Elsa might not hear her through the thick door. "Elsa?" she repeated louder.

No answer, but she heard someone move, although quietly.

"Elsa, I know you are inside," she told her sister. "Gerda told me."

Nothing. Still Anna smiled at the closed door.

"It's okay, Elsa, I know now why you stay inside your room," she told her sister. "You are sick, aren't you? Don't be scared, I've been sick before and now I'm healthy again." She caressed the wood of the door, wishing it would open. "When I was sick you always came to my door. And you told me I would get better and then I got better. And I didn't do that for you, so you stayed sick. Do you feel better already?"

She wasn't sure if she had really heard something. For a moment it had sounded like sobbing... nah, why would Elsa be sad? She'd be healthy again soon.

"It's okay, Elsa," she told her sister. "I will wait for you. But when you are healthy again... maybe we could build a snowman again. Would you... like that?"

The silence made her heart sink. Maybe Elsa was sleeping. Yes, surely that was it! She would come back tomorrow and tell her again. Maybe she would get better even faster than. "Sleep well, Elsa," she said and swallowed. "I miss you."

Inside the room Elsa didn't move one muscle even when she heard Anna move away from the door. There was not the slightest sound in the room, especially not from the girl lying on the bed with the frozen blanket. And the only movement were the warm tears that burned like acid on the cool skin of the girl's face.

* * *

A whole year. Anna couldn't believe it. If she had been sick, Elsa would have surely gotten better now. Or she would at least have answered Anna pleas to talk to her if it was just that. But this... silence... aside from the occasional, and still very rare "Go away, Anna" or "Please not now, Anna"... it was worse than when Elsa had at least made up reasons why they couldn't play anymore in the beginning of her exile. Right now Anna was lying in her bed, dejected. There was no use to try it again... Elsa would not answer her today either. And she had played alone for months. It was just... not the same.

Anna's lips trembled. She missed her big sister. She really, really missed her. And the worst part was that she didn't know what she had done wrong. Surely, if the was any other reason, Elsa would have answered her by now. But she hadn't... so she had to be mad at Anna for some reason. Their mother had tried to deny that but Anna could see no other reason why Elsa would shut her out like that. She had begged Elsa to tell her what she had done wrong... she just wanted to apologize, to do anything Elsa wanted her to do, so that everything could be like it had been before, but she didn't know what else she could do. Elsa just didn't talk to her.

Anna hid her face between her knees. She wanted the old Elsa back! The one that would stand up in the middle of the night to play with her. The one she could play tag or hide and seek with. She even missed the Elsa that had been busy and grumpy. Her parents had tried to be there for her more often, and she had seen that they were also talking with Elsa, but they would never let them meet or tell Anna what was wrong. It was so unfair. Sometimes Anna just wanted to yell at them that finally, FINALLY should tell her what was going on...

"The truth is... you are not our only child."

Anna blinked. Who were... wait, those were her parents! The people who had raised her on their farm in this small town. How could she have forg... wait... her parents were the king and the queen of Arendelle! And she felt different... she was taller. What was going on here? Then she heard herself talk... and she recognized her voice... even if it wasn't hers.

"What do mean? Tell me."

Her not-really-parents hesitated. Something seemed to bother them greatly... like her parents here in Arendelle. "Dear... before we had you... we already had a child. A boy. He was eight years old when you were born."

Eight? Something about that bothered Anna. To the big her all this was news, but the small her in the castle felt like she had heard this somewhere before, but a little different... hadn't it been three years then? This was very confusing, knowing yet not knowing things at the same time! She felt the big her getting excited.

"I have a brother?" she asked. "A real brother? Where is he? Why have I never seen him?"

The pained expressions on her parent's faces made Anna sad, even if they were just her not-really-parents.

"He is not here, child," the man said, his voice thick with regret. "He has not been here since your birth. He..." He swallowed. "He was chased away by the whole village."

"What?" Anna could feel the shock of her big her, while she was still trying to remember why this story sounded so similar. Wasn't that some story her for-sure-mama had told Elsa and her some time ago? "But... why would they do something like that?"

"Dear... your brother... is the Snow King."

Now Anna remembered! Her for-sure-mama had indeed told her and Elsa about a Snow King once... her small her smiled briefly when she remembered how she had confused a drawing in the book for her big sister. But her smile vanished when her big her remembered other stories... stories of the Snow King being a cruel sorcerer, sending harsh winters to torment people everywhere.

"Tell me everything," the big her said. "Please! I need to know!"

"As you wish," her not-really-father said and sighed. "Your mother and I... couldn't have children, although we wanted them. Then we heard about a wise woman... or a witch, as some people called her. And that maybe she knew a way to help us." Her not-really-mother looked away while the not-really-father continued. "And when we asked her, she told us that the body of your mother was unable to bloom, a temple of winter which women should only become at old age, and gave us a flower. She told us that winter itself had created it, to prove that it was able to create beauty too like its sibling spring. And if your mother ate this flower, then the... cycle inside of her would rewind, with the winter first getting stronger, but then releasing spring, making your mother able to bloom and have children."

"We did not really believe her," Anna's kinda-mother said quietly, still not looking at her. "Most of what she said sounded insane. But what did we have to lose? So I ate the flower... and soon after I became pregnant. And the Snow King was born." She paused for a moment. "At first he was like all the other children... and we were overjoyed, thinking that this was the 'bloom' the witch had talked about. He was always pale and had near-white hair, and most villagers were wary around him, but we believed he was a gift from heaven, would never bring harm to anyone. Until eight years later... you were born."

The kinda-father put a hand on her shoulder. "He seemed to be curious to have a sibling, happy even... but when he touched you for the first time... he conjured up the winter. Everywhere in our house ice appeared... then a blizzard hit the village... injuring many, scaring all of them. And soon... they called him a sorcerer. And one day they all came and demanded that he left the village. And we... we were too scared ourselves to stop them."

"You let them take him away?" Anna's big her whispered. "But... you did search for him later... right?"

A moment of silence. "Dear, he was a danger to us and you too," the kinda-mother said, unable again to look at her. "We had realized that you were the released spring the witch had promised us... and that he was the deep winter beforehand. He is the Snow King."

"Has he ever hurt me intentionally?" Anna could feel the the big her was getting angry. She was too. She didn't like her for-sure-parent's secrecy either. "Do you even know if he WANTED to bring the winter? Have you ever TALKED to him?"

"He is winter itself, dear. He is too dangerous, we had no choice."

"No, don't try to rationalize this! You abandoned him! He was your son, my brother, and you did not even try to find good within him! And now he is out there, having no one who loves him... are you surprised that he hates humans?"

Her kinda-father looked ashamed, but also... tired. As if he had asked himself the same question already countless times. "We did it to keep you safe."

"I know that." Now the anger was going away. The small Anna in Arendelle was glad – she had gotten a bit worried. True, she was a bit angry at her parents too, but she still wouldn't yell at them that loud. It was not nice. "But that doesn't make it better," her big her concluded. "No one should be left alone like that." Then the big her stood up and left the room of the small house. And leaned against the door on the other side, looking at her hands. They looked nice, although they had many scratches, like some people of the staff in the Arendelle castle. Small Anna wondered if her hands would look like that once too.

"No one should be left alone like that," her big her suddenly started talking to herself. Then she balled her fists. "I need to find him. I need to bring him back."

* * *

Anna blinked. Suddenly the small house and the big her was gone. She was herself again. In her own room, in Arendelle castle. What had just happened? This had been like a dream... but more real than a dream. She had never been two people at once before. Did this happen to everybody sometimes? Should she perhaps talk to her parents about that? Or...

Elsa...

The big her had never met the Snow King and yet she had stood up for him. Anna suddenly felt a little... ashamed. The whole last year she had only tried to coax Elsa out, so that they could play together, because she felt lonely... and she had never asked herself, if maybe Elsa was lonely too. Anna kinda hoped she was... no, not really, the wasn't a nice thing to think, it was just that she hoped that Elsa did still like her enough to miss her... it was scary to think that Elsa didn't like her at all anymore. Nonono, Elsa wouldn't do that! They had been so close... but then, if Elsa still liked her and she missed her too, then Anna had been really selfish, only thinking about her fun and not thinking about Elsa.

She hopped out of her bed and ran out of her room, stopping in front of Elsa's room with a heart that hadn't beaten this hard in quite a while. She leaned her ear against the door. It was a bit cold, as usual, but Anna didn't care.

"Elsa?" she whispered. "Are you in there?" Then she giggled a bit. "Stupid me. You are nearly always in there. But maybe right now you are not. But that's okay. I will come again another time and tell you again." She took a deep breath. "Anyway, Elsa... I need to ask you something very, very important. Are you... lonely too, Elsa?"

At first there was just this dreaded silence, but then she heard footsteps coming to the door. Elsa didn't open now either, she also didn't talk again, but she was at least... here. And listening to her. Right now, even that was a relief.

"Because I am," Anna continued. "But it's okay. Well, it's not, but I didn't come here today to talk about me. In the whole last year I have only talked about myself. And I never asked you... are you alright, Elsa? Are you lonely too sometimes?" Her smile faltered. "Because I am here, Elsa. If you feel lonely... I am here. Maybe mama and papa are angry at you, because we always got up at night and played instead of sleeping... is it that? Are you not allowed to come out?"

She started smiling again. "If it's that, then... then I'll be the best child ever. I'll be good until you are allowed to come out again... okay?" Elsa still wasn't talking... but Anna could hear sniffs on the other side of the door. But it was still clear that Elsa would not open the door today either. "Well... that's what I wanted to say. I just hope that... that one day we can play together again. I miss you. Goodbye,... Elsa."

With that she wanted to leave, feeling certain that nothing else would follow and that she had at least said everything she had intended to. That's why her heart nearly jumped out of her throat when she heard a quiet voice through the door.

"Anna..."

"Elsa!" Her ear was immediately pressed against the wood again.

"Anna..." Elsa's voice sounded strained. "One day we will be able to play again... I promise."

"Really?" A part of Anna was crushed that Elsa would still continue to stay in her room... but the rest of her was jubilant to at least hear her dear sister's voice again. "Promise?"

"Yes. I promise."

"Okay," Anna whispered. "I won't give up on you, Elsa. I will visit you again and again so you know I still haven't forgotten you... I could never forget you... until we can play again together. We could build a snowman then."

A sob. "I would like that." Anna could barely hear Elsa's voice now. "Goodbye, Anna."

"Goodbye, Elsa."

But Elsa never made good on her promise. And although Anna continued talking to her closed door year after year, even their infrequent talks became rarer and rarer... and Anna's hope to see her sister ever again began to dwindle. Until, after the death of their parents, they stopped talking to each other at all.

* * *

Don't know... is "the big Anna" believable? After I've seen the heartbreaking relationship of the original sisters, my own characters suddenly seem... inadequate. What do you think? I also have ideas for a Tangled/Frozen-crossover and for one with Anna's relationships developing into some kind of menage a trois with Kristoff and Elsa... but I have only so much time. You think I should write those too eventually?


	5. I'll bring you back!

Whew! This movie is certainly getting to me, as you might see in this rather rambling stream of consciousness. You'll tell me once I reach the mark of obsession, won't you? WON'T YOU?

Now we have reached the point after Elsa's powers have just been revealed and Anna is riding out into the mountains to bring her back. Anna is overwhelmed by her feelings and this will trigger another vision from the Snow King and the Spring Maiden... enjoy!

* * *

**I'll bring you back!**

No!

Nonononono... this was not happening! For months Anna had been ecstatic about this day. The open doors... the people from everywhere in the world... and the chance to see her sister again, even from afar. Truth be told, Anna had long since given up hope that Elsa and her would ever be more again than just two people living in the same castle... so all the more surprised – and delighted – she had been when Elsa had started talking to her at the beginning of the ball. Sure, it had just been innocuous banter, compliments about appearance, confirming that they still shared their love for chocolate, pretty superficial... but for just one moment, these harmless words had meant the world to her. How sad was it that until a few hours ago she had not even been sure if Elsa, the sister she had once loved with all her heart, would even acknowledge her little sister's mere presence?

And then, of course, everything had gone down the drain again. First Elsa resuming her unswerving stance on their future relationship – none at all, like these last horrible years –, then her denying that Anna had been lucky enough to find her true love, this gorgeous prince Hans, and flatly refusing to grant her little sister a chance, probably her last chance for love at all... and finally the disaster.

For the last 13 years Anna had racked her brain, had desperately tried to imagine a reason why her sister had shut Anna out of her life, to the point of not even attending the funeral of their parents together. Later a member of the staff had told Anna that he had seen Elsa visiting the grave that night, alone. Somehow that had hurt Anna even more... because that meant that Elsa didn't have a grudge against their parents, which would have been awful... but she had mourned all alone, refusing to share her grief... with the people she would soon rule and, more importantly, with Anna, her sister, who had been heartbroken too.

Well... now she knew. A single moment, a sudden burst of magic resulting in a barricade of ice spikes had explained everything. Elsa hadn't really been ignoring Anna... she had been HIDING. Had hidden herself from a world that was full of things and people that were oh-so-very fragile compared to her magic. And she had fled. Anna felt a sudden surge of anger at this ambassador who had basically called Elsa an evil witch. What did he know! Had he been with them in all these years when Elsa had basically imprisoned herself? And those rare talks she and Anna had had through the closed door... as long as Anna hadn't known what was going on she hadn't been sure if the pain she had heard in Elsa's voice was really there or just wishful thinking. But it had been there.

Anna stopped the horse. She shivered and put her hand on her heart. She felt so incredibly guilty. The reason she was not afraid of Elsa like everyone else in town was because she had seen it. In this moment after Elsa's powers were revealed and the whispers of "sorcery" had come up Elsa had briefly looked into Anna's eyes. And everything Anna had seen in these eyes had been pain and fear. 13 years of loneliness. Being separated from her family. The high expectations of the people for their new queen. And a power so great that people were afraid of it. Anna would have probably been afraid too, had it not been for this short eye contact. She was sure now, absolutely sure, that Elsa had tried to be the queen their parents had wanted her to be, while fearing all the time that her secret would be revealed. And then it had been revealed... because of a moment of weakness that was Anna's fault.

Since when had Elsa had these powers? The most logical answer would be since she had shut Anna out of her life, so when she had been 8 and Anna had been 5 years old. But why then? And why hadn't Elsa and their parents told Anna? If she had known... well, she probably wouldn't have been able to help Elsa since she knew as much about magic as everyone else, meaning nothing, but at least she would have been able to share Elsa's burden, and for sure she wouldn't have made it harder for her sister by constantly begging her to come out and play with her. The thought of all the moments in their childhood when she had thought that Elsa was sobbing on the other side of the door after she had innocently asked her sister if they should build a snowman... it made Anna's heart constrict. If she just had known... for so long Elsa had hid what she was from everyone, probably because she was scared of hurting someone and being shunned for it, and now she had been exposed and had fled her home... everything she knew really, and Anna could only assume that Elsa thought of herself as some kind of monster.

That's why Anna had to find her! And to bring her back! She would not allow her sister to feel that way... the sister she had been angry and disappointed at, sometimes came very close to hate... when the only things Elsa deserved were love and compassion. All this time Anna had thought that she had had a horrible childhood... and since she could find no real reason she had assumed at some point that Elsa didn't simply care about her family anymore... and all this time Elsa had probably been afraid of herself, been just as, no, even more lonely than Anna had been... she needed to tell Elsa all of that! Even if Elsa wouldn't want come back to Arendelle with her at first, even if the fought, even if Elsa never wanted to see Anna again... and the thought alone made Anna's heart hurt even more... Anna had to tell her that she loved her. To tell her that Elsa was no monster, certainly not in Anna's eyes. To tell her that she was sorry, so sorry for making Elsa's self-imposed exile even harder to bear with her stupid begging... when it seemed that Elsa had only been afraid of hurting her, just as she had been afraid of hurting their people when she had fled Arendelle just an hour ago.

But... what if Elsa didn't want to talk to her? What if she didn't even want to come back? What if Anna didn't find her out here? Anna turned around and looked back at Arendelle. She knew that she had a duty to her people... her and Elsa's people... to find her sister, so that Elsa could unfreeze the city. She just knew that Hans would take good care of them while she was gone, but it was up to her to clean up the mess she had helped creating. But... was she really able to do it? And now, although she hated herself for it, with all these other questions a particularly nasty one entered her mind... what if Elsa really was the uncontrollable danger this slimy ambassador had made her out to be... even to Anna, her sister?

* * *

These statues were... really creepy. She had to admit that she was very impressed of the palace itself. Whatever person her brother really was... he definitely was an artist. The high walls were full of highly detailed ice carvings, the "furniture", if you could call shaped ice that way, looked elegant and the throne the Snow King was sitting on was, although showy, quite imposing... and while the ice in the entry hall had been so impure and dark that no sunshine could pass it and lighten up the eternal state of nighttime in there, the throne room had a ceiling of pure, glasslike ice, making it bright and at least somewhat friendly. It was just the statues... as detailed as the artwork of her brother was, something about this statues just looked a little... too real. Maybe it was the sheer amount of fear in the icy faces.

Anna blinked. Oh... this again. A few times in her life she had had these... visions of what she thought was the life of the Spring Maiden from the story Elsa's and her mother had told them as kids. Since in these visions the young woman whose body and mind she seemed to be sharing had never quite reached the Snow King, most of them were about the woman growing up with her parents or her journey to the Ice Palace, Anna had stopped trying to find out what this meant. Her parents were dead and there was no one else she would feel comfortable enough to talk about what she could only call visions or hallucinations. Her life had been dreadful enough without rumors about her going crazy. Before her attention was caught again by the scene she was seeing in her mind, her last thankful thought was that the vision had at least not hit her while the horse was galloping.

"My sister? Really?"

The Snow King, the brother of the girl whose eyes Anna was looking through again, was not like Anna had imagined him as a child at all. He was not as old as her father, but in his twenties... well alright, that was logical when you thought about it, since his sister was supposedly just of age and he was only eight years older. He was, in an exotic way, even fairly good-looking with his snow-white short hair, the lean build and the unnaturally pale skin... wait, she was thinking about her brother here... no, her sister Elsa... and that aside, she had Hans... GAH! These visions were confusing! Anyway, cute or not, his expression was hard, his voice dripped of sarcasm and his eyes... they sent shivers through their body, even though Anna's host tried not to show it. They were unforgiving, distrustful, just plain... cold. Without feeling at all, safe maybe contempt.

"Let me ask you the following: Do you think that you are the first girl they have sent to kill me in my sleep?" He stood up from his throne and started approaching her, his hands freezing in the process. If it had been Anna there, she might have run away, but her host stayed. "Or do you think that you'll be the first to leave unharmed?"

Anna had a high amount of respect for the Spring Maiden, since she could feel the fear of the girl, and yet she stayed. "I came here because we are brother and sister," the Maiden said with an only slightly wavering voice. "Our parents got a magical flower from a witch and after our mother ate it you were born. You grew up on their farm, but the people there didn't trust you. When you were eight I was born... and when you touched me a blizzard hit the village. Soon after they forced you to leave the village."

The eyes of the Snow King were now definitely too close for comfort... and more intense than ever. "There are many legends about the Snow King out there," he snarled in a low, threatening tone.

"None about your childhood," the Spring Maiden said confidently. "I have searched long for your palace, and I have heard many stories about you... but all of them described a cruel, vicious, grown-up tyrant, no child."

The silence was frightening. Then the Snow King chuckled, not taking his eyes off her. "Alright," he said. Somehow his amusement didn't make him any less frightening... he still looked like he could attack anytime. His hands were still coated in rime. "So let's say you really are who you say you are. Why are you here... sister?"

"I want you to come home," the Maiden answered. Anna could feel how the girl was calming down a bit. "Mom and dad regret what they have done... and I want to get to know you."

"Home?" He chuckled again. "Do you think the people would welcome me there? Would welcome YOU if I showed up with you?"

"No." A short pause. Anna felt the Maiden's uncertainty... she had really thought that her brother's welcome would be a little more friendly. "But I think in time we could convince them that you are no monster."

Now the Snow King snorted and took a step back. "You're quite naïve," he told her. "I rather think that they would act like them." He pointed at the statues around her. Anna's mental as well as the Maiden's eyes widened a bit. Her brother smiled darkly. "What, did you think that they were real statues?"

"They are people? And you froze them?" Now the Maiden's and Anna's worry mixed. Anna nearly felt sorry for the girl who had long searched for her brother and had found... this. "Why?"

The Snow King shrugged and walked up to the next statue, a pretty burly warrior, and eyed it. "They came here to kill me," he told her. "Most of them were convinced that I had sent the storms that killed their loved ones."

The Maiden regained some confidence. "I don't think you did send these storms."

"And how would you know?" Now his irritatingly intense eyes were on her again. Now his voice wasn't full of malice anymore... it sounded strangely interested. "Sister or not – you don't know anything about me but stories. And I just told you that I killed these warriors here. So why do you think I did not send these storms?"

"If they wanted to kill you, you had no choice but to defend your life... even if you went too far," the Maiden spoke calmly although Anna could sense that the girl was still shaken that those statues had indeed been humans before. She was too. "But I refuse to think that my brother would kill people he doesn't even know for no reason at all."

"You do, hmm?" Now the Snow King looked amused. "Well, who am I to tell you what to think?" He turned around. "I'll say it once, loud and clear: I won't come with you. If you have nothing else to say, then you may leave." He walked back to his throne.

"Don't you want to kill me too? Like these people?" Now the Maiden was hurt. Anna could relate to that. The girl had endured many hardships to find her brother... and he was such a jerk!

The Snow King turned around. "Why should I?" he asked with a hint of surprise in his voice. "You are no danger to me."

"But you send me away. I can tell you more details of your life with our parents, but I think you already believe me. And still you don't want me to stay."

Now the young man blinked. "You WANT to stay?" he asked, now clearly surprised. "Why?"

Anna could tell that the Maiden was getting desperate. If her brother sent her away just like that... then all the hardships she had endured would have been for nothing. "I told you. I am your sister. If you won't come with me, then I at least want to get to know you before I leave." The girl swallowed. "You call yourself a king. Shouldn't a king show good manners and offer a hungry and tired traveller some hospitality?"

For a moment the Snow King looked normal, even a little baffled. Then he showed her a less sarcastic smile than until now. "Why of course!" he declaimed. "I would not dream to ignore common courtesy! You may stay as long as you want, I will even give you a room." Then he dropped that act. "But listen well, sister..."

The Maiden shivered when her brother hissed the last word like a curse.

"... if you have lied to me and try to kill me like the statues did, then even you will end up like them!"

* * *

"Do you want to be KILLED?"

Anna blinked. Alright, scene shift. Now she was standing in front of the Snow King again, but it obviously was another time, since they were standing elsewhere and the light seemed somehow different. Yet that was details. This time the Spring Maiden was feeling strange confidence and the Snow King was... you could only call it baffled. What had happened?

"That was not what I asked," Anna's host body corrected. Anna blinked again mentally. Was the Maiden slightly... amused by the expression on her brother's face? Since the Snow King had always kinda reminded Anna of Elsa somehow – even if she was certain that Elsa would never transform a living being into an ice statue! Never would her sister do that! –, she suddenly remembered when she in her glorious age of three years had taken Elsa's dolls and had tried to do an improvised theater scene like her sister had so often done for her. Let's just say her... limited vocabulary and poor knowledge of drama had made the whole thing such a jumbled mess that Elsa's expression had been kinda like the Snow King's now... Anna felt the need to laugh, her amusement and affection for Elsa mixing with the Spring Maiden's and strengthening the girl's courage and will to save her brother even further. "I was asking you if the trolls could get me a real bed up here – your ice imitation is painful to sleep on. Oh, and some more firewood would be nice too."

"Are you JOKING?"

The Maiden flinched when an ice bolt passed her by and exploded on the wall behind her, but her resolve remained strong. Anna was more and more impressed with her... whatever connection the Maiden really had with her. A sudden familiar pang of guilt hit her heart again. She wished she had been like that after Elsa had exposed her powers to everyone... maybe if she had reacted like that she could have talked her sister into not running away.

"You are telling me that you want to stay? After I have told you what I've done?" The Snow King was angry again, but this time... maybe it was the Maiden's influence on her... Anna wasn't afraid of him anymore. This was someone who was bitter and unloved and who was lashing out against everyone. Her mental eyes widened. Would Elsa become... like that too if she didn't find her soon?

The Maiden stayed calm. "And I have told you that, even if you don't want to come home with me, I want to at least get to know my brother better before I leave," she told the young man in front of her.

"And why exactly should I comply with your wishes?" The expression on the Snow King's face had left anger behind and was now somewhere near... fascination.

The Maiden smiled. "Because you are my brother," she simply said. "And big brothers are supposed to take care of their little sisters, are they not? Otherwise you will get a bad reputation."

Baffled again. If Anna knew that the Maiden was able to sense her like she was able to sense the Maiden, she would have cheered for her... different kind of me. That girl was incredible, dismantling her brother's "tough guy"-act with calm and wit alone!

"Of course I won't simply live off your charity, brother," the Maiden continued, walking by the Snow King. "I think I will start cooking for you. I have tasted what the trolls call food and I can't see how you survived with just that so far. Oh, but listen." The girl turned around. "I was raised properly, so I expect a certain kind of behavior from relatives. As long as I am here you will not kill anyone, as long as your life is not in mortal danger, understood? Well, it's near noon... I should talk to the trolls about the ingredients I will need in the kitchen. Have a good day, brother."

It took the Snow King full three seconds to react. "You DARE?" he shouted and the Ice Palace vibrated with his voice. "You DARE to challenge me like this? Alright, fine! You shall have your bed and wood! You shall have your kitchen! It won't matter anyway, you'll soon give up and be gone! You can't change who I am!"

The Maiden didn't even look back, continuing to walk into the entry hall on her way to the trolls. Anna could feel the triumphant smile on the girl's lips. "Well, I can at least try," she replied.

* * *

Anna breathed deeply as the vision finally ended and she returned to her normal body. Never before had these visions been so... intense. Was that old fairy tale really... true? Were her and Elsa really connected to people that had existed somewhere else? She patted the horse which was getting restless, while looking back at Arendelle. And was this legend... coming true now? If Anna gave up on Elsa now... would she become like the Snow King, killing people and be feared by everyone? Anna remembered her childhood. After Elsa had begun to shut her little sister out of her life, Anna hadn't simply given up on her. Back then Anna had been so proud of her sister! In her eyes Elsa had been smart, responsible – well, at least more than Anna –, yet also mischievous, funny, caring... the ideal playmate AND role model for little Anna, one to be loved and adored. How could little Anna just give up on such a great sister? It had taken years and years of silence to finally crush her hopes.

A tear started to make its way down her cheek. Before the vision, had she really doubted that she could save her sister? She was angry at herself now! Was that even a CHOICE? Had the Spring Maiden simply given up when the Snow King had rejected her? And this... boy – Anna refused calling him a monster, still remembering the feelings of the Maiden for her brother – had done really bad things in his years of bitter solitude. Elsa was nothing like that! Anna called back the image of Elsa's pained and fearful expression after the big reveal and the word "sorcery" into her mind. All these days that Elsa had spent in her room... alone, trying to hide who she was... and it probably had gone worse after their parents had died since they surely had known at least something. Anna's own childhood suddenly seemed a lot brighter than before... all this time Anna had thought that Elsa somehow didn't WANT to be part of the world anymore, for whatever reason. Yet the pained expression and the rejection Elsa had faced after the reveal of her powers... it told Anna everything she needed to know.

The horse seemed relieved when Anna finally ordered it to move again. Well, it HAD become pretty cold... but Anna was determined now. She would not stop! She would not LET anything stop her until she reached Elsa, wherever she might be! She OWED it to her sister to tell her face to face that, after all Elsa must have gone through, she, Anna, didn't hate or condemn Elsa for who she was and what she could do!

"I will find you, Elsa," she mumbled, shivering in the cold. "Because our country needs you... because I need you... and because maybe... I hope... you need me a little bit too still."

And so, in the harshest winter Arendelle had ever faced, in Princess Anna's heart a small, delicate flower of hope had managed to bloom anew. If it had only known what awaited it...

* * *

You know I would really like to hear what you think about the banter between the King and the Maiden. It was fun to write and a nice contrast to Anna's angst and guilt. Reviews please?


	6. Not yet a frozen heart

Thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate them! Yet there are still not enough... I need more... and when I have enough I will devour them and take their power and from them will emerge something glorious and my enemies will trem... uh, uhm... reviews please?

This chapter is about Elsa. Having finally built her ice palace and enjoyed her newfound freedom, she knows that there is one last thread that ties her to her old life... Anna. Enjoy!

* * *

**Not yet a frozen heart**

The Snow Queen was running through her newly created palace, all the while stopping to to create an ornament, an icy piece of furniture or carving crude pictures into the ice walls. A huge grin was on her face, her muscles protesting since she hadn't grinned like that in years, while she enjoyed the complete lack of pressure in her life, being finally able to do whatever she wanted whenever she wanted without fear or etiquette being there to hold her back. Arriving in the great entry hall she started twirling around, spraying snowflakes from her fingertips, adding to the magic of the scenery. When she was done, the former queen of Arendelle stretched her arms as far as she could, threw her head back and sent her power into the whole palace, slightly correcting the height of this turret, changing the position of that window and correcting all the small mistakes she had made in her first, euphoria-driven construction phase.

Then she finally allowed herself a moment to rest and she looked around the entry hall, panting slightly. Her heart was beating so fast that her blood was practically flooding through her veins, and in this moment she felt like her body temperature had risen significantly. Was this what normal people felt when they were excited? Was this the warmth that fueled adventurers and artists in their greatest moments? Well, probably not... this perhaps was as close as a being like her could get to these sensations, but it already felt amazingly wonderful! Why had she never done this before? Why hadn't she run away sooner?

Elsa calmed down and slowly walked up the finely carved stairs up to the first floor. Of course she knew why. Now that the urge to use her powers, which had become nearly unbearably strong in all these years, was sated, at least for the moment, her rational thinking was coming back. She had stayed in Arendelle because of duty. Because Arendelle needed a ruler and there would have been no way to avoid suspicion if the first-born daughter suddenly declined her birthright. She had stayed because it had been her home... even if it had stopped being a place of joyful memories long ago. And she had stayed... because, even after all these years, she hadn't completely lost the naïve hope that one day her control over her magic would be strong enough so that she could risk to tell her little sister face to face why their estrangement had been necessary and right.

Anna...

The joy of creation was leaving her heart as she entered her salon and sat down on a newly created chair, the snow on top of it functioning as a kind of cushion, conveying a feeling of comfort.

Anna...

She... might be her only regret.

Elsa was not sad that she had left Arendelle. As said, she had stayed there because of her duty to become the queen, but that didn't mean that these last years after the death of her parents had been anything else but true loneliness. Before that Anna had at least tried to talk to her at least a few times in a month. Even if it had been painful to listen, Elsa had been a little bit... proud. Anna was not one to give up easily. And it had mostly been a bitter-sweet sensation... Anna's voice had been the only light in her dull days, but as it also reminded her of what she had lost it often caused her powers to go out of control. But after their last encounter after the funeral of their parents – Elsa's heart ached at the thought that not even then she had dared to be present – Anna's will had been truly broken. She had stopped talking to Elsa, and Elsa herself had also stopped talking to the servants about anything but the bare minimum.

Elsa shuddered. No, she was not sad that she had left Arendelle. Here in her new home there was no fear of hurting anyone. There was no pressure to be something she simply wasn't. And in time the memory of the pain too would fade away. But Anna... Elsa closed her eyes and thought back. It had started so well... Anna being present at her coronation ceremony, not showing any sign that she actively disliked Elsa. That alone had been a relief for the former queen. She had accepted that Anna and her were strangers now... although a stranger she had wished to be with for a long time. But Elsa didn't know what she would have done if Anna had shown signs of hatred... she didn't know how her powers would have reacted. And then, at the beginning of the ball, Anna had practically tumbled into the ballroom, her innocent charm winning many hearts among their guests without even saying a word, no doubt about that.

Elsa smiled sadly. The Anna she remembered from their childhood days had been a bundle of energy and joy. This Anna had somehow hold onto the joy part – a feat Elsa was seriously envious of –, but it seemed like no one had been there to help her focus her energy on talents which would benefit a princess. And yet somehow... this clumsy entry had stirred something in Elsa's subcooled heart. She had known that it would probably not be a good idea, but she hadn't been able to resist... she had started talking to Anna. And boy, had her younger sister been surprised! It had been such a nice, carefree conversation... until Elsa had remembered that it couldn't stay this way. The saddest thing was, not even the dejected voice of her sister afterwards had been that heartbreaking... since she was long since used to break Anna's heart that way. It was just... business as usual, as awful as it sounded.

Until... the fiasco. For a single moment Elsa felt a bit of anger against Anna, after all the younger girl had been the catalyst, introducing her to her "true love" prince... Hans, ripping away her glove and throwing all these accusations at her. Then she sighed and the melancholy crept back in. Truth be told, it wasn't Anna's fault. She simply hadn't been aware of what she was causing. Elsa asked herself, if she could have prevented that ridiculous idea of instant marriage if she had just told Anna what was wrong with her long ago. Maybe then, even if Anna still couldn't have been near her, their bond wouldn't have been so thoroughly destroyed that the younger girl was so desperate for love, any love, that she would accept the first proposal that came along.

And yet... when? After the accident Elsa had been paralyzed with fear to even be near Anna, let alone the guilt she had felt, even if the small girl had no memories of it anymore. Later, when that had worn off a bit, her parents had convinced her to first learn control before she confronted the task of talking with Anna. It had sounded reasonable enough. If she was in control when she told Anna, then she wouldn't look at her as if Elsa was a monster. And she had tried, really tried to train her powers, to suppress them, to even FORGET them altogether... but all the frustration, loneliness, fear and guilt had been too powerful to ignore. And after the death of their parents, the only ones she could at least ask for advice, even if their advice hadn't been helpful in the end, she had lost all hope. She would never be able to control this... curse she had been born with, could never be around anyone anymore, so she had convinced herself that it was better to freeze Anna out completely, to force the younger sister to move on. Elsa sighed. Still, wouldn't it have been better to tell Anna...?

No. She stood up, remembering the accident and hardening her heart. It had perhaps been an unfortunate decision of her father to close the gates permanently, that way Anna hadn't been able to move on and find new friends... but Elsa knew that she couldn't go through another accident, not ever again. Anna's lifeless body, without all the fire and spirit which made her so special... it had been right to keep her away from Elsa. It had been right not to tell her that her beloved older sister had already nearly killed her once...

* * *

"Do you really think so?"

Damn you, Anna... why do you have to look at me like that? The shocked look after the reveal of Elsa's powers had been bad enough, but this mix of pity and a little hurt... wait, that wasn't Anna! That was the Spring Maiden and this was one of those strange visions again. And yet, again, with the feelings in the near-frozen heart of the Snow King mixing with her own, she could tell that Anna and the Maiden had much in common... although he would never admit it, the Maiden had come into the Snow King's life like a ray of sunlight, brightening each day just a little bit, just like Anna had been the greatest source of joy in Elsa's childhood. Both were a bit stubborn, but caring, well-meaning and just... plain lively, especially around someone like Elsa or the King. The spring to their winter.

The King wasn't even sure if he liked that. HIS kitchen had really become HER kitchen in the few weeks she had been here. There were new seats – his being too cold to sit on –, loads of cooking ingredients everywhere, firewood and half a dozen cooking books from the trolls... well, fortunately they had been WRITTEN by humans. True, the food was better. Not great, since his sister – just WHEN had he finally accepted THAT? – was pretty young and didn't have much experience, but she made up for most of it with pure enthusiasm. As she did with a lot of things, as he had noticed. There just was no silence anymore! No matter where he was in the castle, it didn't take her long to find him or at least destroy his peace of mind with an unbearably happy song that resounded in the ice halls.

The King massaged his temples and told himself that he didn't care about the other statues, but he would probably feel bad about this one – sometimes. Although Elsa kinda liked this guy's firm control over his emotions and dry sense of humor, she was appalled by the thought that he would even CONSIDER freezing his sibling – estranged or not, there was no way she would ever do this to Anna! "We have talked about this countless times," he growled. "Those guys just keep coming. They are not interested in truth – they just want revenge, and with the stories out there... you can't talk to them."

"And I know you have said that you have tried, but have you really?" The Maiden already looked VERY similar to Anna as her sister was now, but this... the Snow King's memories told her that this was by far not the first time that they had talked about the ice statues and that it rarely ended on a peaceful note. It reminded her of Anna's constant attempts to get her big sister out of her room in a rather painful way. "I mean, disarmed them, immobilized them in a non-lethal way... and THEN talked to them? You know, maybe these stories WOULD disappear if you let your enemies live to tell the tale."

The Snow King's patience was wearing thin. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Elsa was again a bit annoyed by his behavior. Sure, she understood him – she could see his memories, those people storming his castle like mad and attacking him for something he hadn't done. After the banishment from his birth village and before his sister had arrived here there hadn't been a single human who hadn't feared him or treated him like a monster. Freezing them had not only been a way to save his life, it had also been... satisfying. A way to repay humankind in general for all the harsh words, attacks and prejudices he had endured before he had found the trolls and was allowed to build his castle here. It frightened her, but she understood it... but couldn't he see that his sister only had the best intentions, was trying to be part of his life, so that HE could maybe become part of humanity again... at this point she remembered herself right before the vision, trying to justify not telling Anna the truth. And suddenly she felt mortified.

"Why are you blaming me?" the Snow King asked, a bit tired. "You weren't here. I did what I had to do to stay alive."

"I'm not blaming you," the Maiden answered in her own gentle, warm tone. "I want to understand you."

"Why?"

"I need to if I want to convince others to see you like I do." She started clearing the table.

"And how do you see me?"

The Maiden turned around. "Hurt," she simply said.

The Snow King had had near perfect control over his powers before she had arrived, all thanks to one thing... no conflicting emotions, only cold contempt for humanity in general. But this simple statement, which touched memories he didn't want to relive, was another small, tiny blow to his self-control, which were slowly adding up. He had to use quite an amount of willpower to stop the growing ice from covering his body as a protective armor. He stood up and left the room... a little too quickly, and all three of them knew it.

"You don't know what you are talking about."

"Of course not. Don't forget dinner again."

* * *

Elsa sighed when she finally returned to her body. Wasn't it enough that she had left her whole life behind? She was in no way tied to the fate of Arendelle anymore, nor to any human being, so why were these visions still haunting her? She admitted that she might have been too fearful where the Snow King was too stubborn, forcing those that loved them out of their lives without explanations... but she doubted that who or whatever caused these visions wanted to tell her that, if anything at all. Yes, in hindsight she wished that she could at least tell Anna now, that she hadn't intended all of this... that she regretted at least not telling her sister way sooner why she had to stay away from her. Maybe at least Anna's childhood would have been happier if she had known... but it was too late now.

Well, it was at least out now. Anna would take the crown, finally move on with her life, marry, have beautiful children and eventually forget her sad past. Just like Elsa would start another life right here. Maybe now, separated by space, they would find the peace of mind both of them hadn't known while they were living nearby, yet emotionally apart. Her last wish for her sister was that, if she really married this prince Hans, she had been lucky and he was as nice as he seemed.

She listened. Had she heard faint voices outside of the palace? Could it be that someone was already coming for her? Well, it would not be too hard, she had not exactly tried to hide her palace, her pride about being herself finally, but why? She stood up. In exile or not, she was still a queen – the Snow Queen! There was no reason to be as hostile as the Snow King as long as her visitors were civil and would leave her soon again. Maybe there were still one or two things to set straight with her abdicating, she thought while she walked down the stairs. Well, it would soon be settled – and then Anna would be the queen everyone would grow to love. Elsa arrived at the entry hall, but stayed hidden still. And she herself would be finally know peace... as soon as she learned to be cold enough to remember her sister without regret.

* * *

"Kill me!"

"Don't do it!"

Elsa groaned as she realized that she was in the mind of the Snow King – again! But her frustration was surpassed by the anger of the Snow King – the anger focused on the man before him, middle-aged, well-muscled, with a fairly expensive-looking armor. Which was currently useless since the man was held in place by three spikes of ice, each of them threatening to cut open his throat from a different direction. Another one of those who had lost someone they loved, in this case a wife and a daughter, in a winter storm and blamed him for it. A few months ago he would not have wasted a word and simply frozen this man... but a few months ago his sister hadn't been here.

"You are not a monster!" For a moment, before the Snow King turned his head and looked at the Spring Maiden, Elsa was sure that she had heard Anna's voice... and the dull ache in her heart vanished at these relieving words, before it came back – still a little bit less bad – as she realized that this was not her sister, but the Snow King's. The Maiden looked scared, but she hadn't fled the scene. "You are not!" she repeated. "Show us both that you are as human as we are."

The Snow King sighed and looked back at the man, who was watching them silently. "He will come back," he told his sister. Elsa could feel that he had indeed changed... he did WANT to believe in his sister's kind and naïve worldview, it was just... well, he knew better. "People like him have nothing left to live except revenge."

"Agreed," the man whispered, his hate-filled eyes never leaving him.

"I have been here for months," the Maiden argued. "I know that you never leave this place. I know you did not kill them. Does that not count?"

The Snow King's frustration grew. Now Elsa could finally relate to him. Everyone had called him a monster, so, to survive, he had become one. But now his sister was here, and she was so desperately trying to change that, that even he was beginning to desire change... but what wouldn't change were men like this guy. No matter what he did, it wasn't right. Then he made a decision. The ice spike that pointed at the neck of the man crumbled, the two that were threatening his throat between him and the two siblings remained.

"Go," the Snow King growled. "Be glad that my sister doesn't like it when I get my hands dirty."

The man looked back at the entrance, then he looked at the Maiden, then at him again. "This doesn't change anything," he said, his voice emotionless. "My family is still dead. I will return... and you will pay for their deaths."

"How do you even know that my brother killed them?" the Maiden suddenly addressed him. Her voice was firm, nearly furious. The Snow King lifted his eyebrow since he had never seen her like that before. Elsa was reminded of a particularly dreadful day when 10 year old Anna had accused her of enjoying making her little sister suffer. For nearly ten minutes Anna had screamed at Elsa's door, all kinds of hurtful things her young mind could imagine... and strangely enough, in a weird way... Elsa had nearly enjoyed Anna blaming her for both of their life, showing that all of this was justified, that Elsa really WAS bad enough to be in a cage, that this made sense. Yet it had even been harder then usual to listen to Anna's tearful apology a day later. It was then, when Anna had begged her to let her in so Elsa could give her the slap in the face the little sister deserved, when Elsa had first contemplated suicide. If her parents hadn't still been alive back then...

The man mustered the Spring Maiden. "Everybody knows the stories of the Snow King," he answered.

"Yes, stories!" she repeated heatedly. "You came here because those stories offered you a nice scapegoat whom you could punish for your pain! You have no idea if he really sends these storms, and you don't care! All you want is to suppress the pain you feel by inflicting it on someone else!" She panted slightly. "Tell me, if your wife and child knew that you are trying to kill someone who MIGHT be completely innocent... would they be proud of you?"

Anger changed the man's face into something awful, but before he could even try to attack the Maiden, two more spikes shot out of the ground between them. The Snow King was impressed by this outburst... Elsa was too, and she briefly wondered if Anna was capable of something like that too... but he was still ready to end this if the man did something dumb. Fortunately, the warning was enough. The man stared at both of them for one more minute, then he turned around.

"I retreat," he told them. "But I will come back. And next time I will end this." With that he slowly walked towards the entrance of the palace.

"That might have been a mistake," the Snow King said quietly. Yet inside, Elsa could feel his pride. "He means what he says."

"It wasn't a mistake," his sister replied confidently and smiled at him. "One day he will realize that he was wrong. That you are NOT a monster." She made a slight pause and looked back at the man. "One day EVERYONE will realize that your heart is not frozen... just hurt."

The Snow King snorted and turned around to walk back to the throne room... but mainly in order to hide the smile on his lips. "You are hopelessly optimistic, you know that?" he asked the girl who was, against all odds, indeed successful in changing his life.

"On the contrary," was the last thing Elsa heard, "from now on I have every reason to be hopefully optimistic."

* * *

Elsa gasped. His life had changed! The Snow King had indeed changed! Right, it was a different situation with him and the Maiden than with her and Anna... but maybe her decision to leave everything behind was the right one? Maybe they WOULD both be happier because of it. She needed to give this change a chance... given time, it might be a change for the better. Now, who was it that...

Anna?

Indeed, the one who had followed Elsa up here, who was seemingly not afraid of her, who was currently staring in awe at what Elsa had created was her little sister. For a moment Elsa panicked. Why her? They needed her in Arendelle right now! What if she hurt her? What if...? But then she took a deep breathe. Maybe this was for the best too... after all, had she not wished to properly say goodbye to her little sister, to have a good, final talk about their past? She felt a sudden... warmth and smiled. Maybe Anna felt like that too? Maybe there were things her sister desperately wanted to tell her too, before she could become the queen Arendelle deserved, without sorrow and guilt. She owed it to Anna to at least talk to her once more, after everything the younger girl must have gone through to reach her... and, considering this last vision, she probably owed it to both of them to at least try to reach an understanding like the one between the Snow King and the Spring Maiden, even if Anna and Elsa would part ways after that. One last talk... it was what they needed. It was what she WANTED.

Because her heart... was not frozen yet.

* * *

Well, the storyboard is done now I think. There will be four more chapters. What do you think of the story so far?


	7. Spring is dying

Phew! I fear I have to tell you that the next chapter will take some time - the time to visit people and stuff is coming up after all. Please stay tuned, there will be three more chapters after this one, about the sister's slowly healing relationship after the movie.

SPOILER ALERT: Whoever hasn't seen the movie and intends to... this chapter will give away the ending. You have been warned.

* * *

**Spring is dying**

She had been fully aware of the deadly blade behind her. She didn't care. No, more than that! Even if she had suddenly developed the ability to form an armor made of ice like the Snow King... every bit of willpower in her body that was not busy weeping was trying to make sure that this would NOT happen, that the blow would kill her with certainty and end her wretched existence. Elsa of Arendelle was not simply prepared to die... she was welcoming death with passion!

She had killed her sister.

She had killed Anna.

She had killed the only being left on this earth that she cared about... that made this life worth living.

So when Hans' blow didn't hit her, when redeeming death wouldn't come, when she heard this strange, familiar voice behind her screaming, followed by shattering steel, she looked back...

And died.

"Anna!"

No!

NO!

Why her?

Why not ME?

Why take the being that brightened the day of everyone around her instead of the sorceress who brought death wherever she went?

Losing her parents had broken her. Losing her kingdom had numbed her. But seeing Anna right in front of her like this... a lifeless statue when there should be LIFE, a silent monument when there should be laughter and energetic movement... this was the moment when Elsa died inside. Nothing mattered anymore. Duty, freedom, saving a whole town... her baby sister was dead! Her sunshine was gone! All Elsa could do now was embracing the lifeless body of her only relative and weep. Cry for all the occasions when she could have prevented this outcome and which she had not used. Grieve for all the moments when she could have said three little words and didn't. Nothing mattered anymore. Spring had died and her world was now barren and cold. Nothing that was happening anywhere was important anymore...

* * *

… but this.

Why did this have to happen to her? Why not him? HE was the one who had killed! HE was the one that, if anyone had to, should die! He had KNOWN that it would have been better to just kill this guy who had lost his family and blamed him for it! He had just KNOWN! Now he was back... and he had learned from last time. He had brought allies. And while he had distracted the Snow King, knowing he had no chance of defeating him really, his allies had targeted a different area of the palace.

And when this asshole had been immobilized by his ice again, he, smiling smugly, had rubbed the fact in that soon they would be even. At first the Snow King hadn't realized what the guy meant – until he heard part of the palace collapse. The part where his sister's quarters were. For one very short moment he was tempted to freeze the grin of this man into his face until the cold reached the bone... but then other emotions took over. Love. Regret. Worry... no, downright fear that he was going to lose the only being that he had come to care about.

This was where Elsa realized that the vision had started. At first she had been appalled by the contempt for other humans the Snow King had cultivated... but now, as both of them were losing a loved one, she understood how much alike they really were. If she had spent more time away from humans after the reveal of her powers... then she could have very well become like the King. They had started from different points, with her first having a wonderful relationship with Anna, which had slowly deteriorated, and the Snow King starting out hate-filled and slowly learning to care again, but now their feelings were the same.

Or not exactly yet. The Snow King turned around and started running towards the noise, leaving the guy, who was now laughing, behind. He didn't care that his controlled grip on his powers was softening, resulting in ice spikes growing out of ground and walls in an uncontrolled manner. If his sister had been taken or, worse, was dead... then he wouldn't even care about the irony of being impaled by one of his own weapons. When... just when had he become so dependent on this girl? When had the wish to please her by changing who he was taken over his mind? When had her life suddenly become more important than his own?

He couldn't answer these questions. Not now. Not when there was still noise out of the Maiden's chambers. As long as there was noise... she might still be there. Not dead. He nearly slipped. For a moment he was panicked. He NEVER slipped! He was the master of ice! Had he gotten that weak already? But then he pushed the thought aside and continued running. Dead! Even the mere notion seemed absurd to him! His sister was life incarnate... only weeks after she had moved in he couldn't recognize his own gloomy and forbidding palace anymore – it had seemed brighter, the echoes of her humming were resounding everywhere and the new smells around the kitchen had reminded him of his old home... when their mother had been cooking. How could someone like that be dead?

The mixed pain of his imaginations and Elsa, who in real life was still clinging to the already dead body of her beloved sister nearly threatened to overwhelm the King as the ground itself suddenly rose and spikes shot out of the walls, trying to prevent him from entering his sister's chamber, trying to prevent him from seeing what he feared. His desperation grew... but then suddenly a bitter-sweet memory entered Elsa's mind. The Maiden had undoubtably had a great impact on the King's life, despite his resistance... and hadn't it been the same thing with her and Anna? Her cute little sister who had been so unwilling to give up coming to Elsa's door every day, asking the same questions over and over again, sometimes bringing her small presents like a painting or a little bit of chocolate... part of her dolorously constricted heart swelled with love when she remembered how painful these little moments had been for her... but also how very much they had meant to her.

This seemed to cut through the Snow King's desperation. Elsa had never thought about if the Snow King could sense her like she could sense him... probably not, he seemed to be unaware of her presence in his mind. But maybe their feelings... were a different kind of story. Anyway, the Snow King growled, found his focus again and made a gesture that caused the spikes to crumble instantly. And finally entered the chamber.

It was a mess. His sister had made the room quite homely, actually. She had kept the trolls quite busy with looking for things for her to decorate her room with, like furs, pictures, even some wooden furniture since she insisted on wearing clothes that were NOT nearly frozen in the morning from lying in an ice dresser. Fortunately she hadn't asked where the trolls had GOTTEN the stuff. The Snow King had never bothered to ask himself, but he was quite certain that much of the staff was stolen. But now the outside wall had collapsed and rocks of ice were everywhere. His eyes widened. And there she was... lying beneath the biggest piece of ice, unmoving and with a bleeding wound on her head.

Then he looked at the men. There were two of them. One of them, a middle-aged muscular guy with sword and armor, was entering the room right now. Clearly he had intended to make sure that the Maiden was dead, but now he was looking at the Snow King in surprise. The other man, who was quite old, was outside... next to the cannon they had used to make the walls collapse. He reacted quicker and tried to pick up a readied crossbow, and just one moment later the muscular guy yanked up his sword to end the life of the Spring Maiden once and for all.

None of them was fast enough. With one nearly feral growl the Snow King put his hands in front of his chest and pushed them forward. In the same moment the ice door next to him was ripped off the door hinges and crashed into the muscular guy, ramming him into the rest of the wall. Then a freshly formed wall of ice right in front of the King caught the crossbow bolt midflight. The Snow King turned his hands, so that his palms were pointing upward now, and raised them. At the same moment the old man outside cried out fearfully as ice suddenly began crawling up his feet, immobilizing him. At last he quickly flicked his wrist and a dozen spikes of ice shot out of the ground and stopped dangerously close to the muscular guy's face, throat and chest. The man's eyes widened and he stopped trying to stand up again.

Elsa could feel the boundless rage of the Snow King. Many people he had killed, for no other reason than to protect himself. But these guys had given him a very good reason to kill them! Had her heart not been filled by sadness, she even might have agreed with him, having been in a similar position before, in her own ice castle. But then both of them heard the faint moan. A female moan. The Snow King's eyes widened as he saw that the Maiden was moving.

"Sister!" In a flash he was standing right next to her, willing the ice wall which had pinned her to the ground to melt and gently lifting body from the ground. "Sunna," he whispered. "Are you alright?" His cold fingers gently caressed her face when her eyelids started to flutter.

"Ull?" she asked, her voice very weak. Had Elsa been a bit more attentive and not so lost in grief, then she would have noticed that she had heard the names of the Maiden and the King for the first time... and how similar they were to her own and Anna's. "What... what happened?"

"We were attacked," he told her. "Sunna... are you hurt? Can you feel anything?"

"Don't know," the girl mumbled, seeming to be just one step away from unconsciousness. "Ull... did you kill? You... promised..."

"I did not kill them," he answered her while throwing the two men a glare that left no doubt about its meaning "yet". They did not dare to move or speak. "I kept my promise. Sunna, save your strength. I'll get you to the trolls, they will heal you." He stood up, gently carrying the girl bridal-style. "Just... stay with me... please." He swallowed while he started walking. "I need you."

"Promise," Sunna mumbled, seemingly not having heard a word he had said. Then she fell unconscious.

The Snow King stopped when he reached the old man with the now useless crossbow, since the bolts were lying on the ground, too far away to reach. The man was staring at him, terrified. With a wink of his finger thick, transparent walls of ice shot out of the ground, forming a cell around the man. Then he commanded the ice on the man's legs to melt, so that he wouldn't die from it.

"You better hope that she survives," he told the old man in the coldest voice he could muster, while he started walking again. "Because your lives depend on hers."

* * *

The leader of the three man hadn't moved from the spot. Well, how could he? The spikes of ice were still immobilizing him, giving him not enough room to free himself. It had to be a very uncomfortable position to be in for more than an hour. But the man didn't show any sign of weakness when the Snow King walked up to him and stared into his face. He did however look surprised when the pale boy created an ice cell for him too and made the spikes melt. He sat down.

"Is she dead?" he asked the Snow King.

"No," the King answered, meeting the glare with an emotionless expression. "She is with the trolls right now. They don't know yet if she will wake up again."

"What about the other two men?" the man demanded to know.

"In cages just like this one."

The man blinked. "You did not kill them?"

"You obviously didn't listen to my sister's words. I don't kill if I'm not forced to do it." The face of the King stayed emotionless, but Elsa knew better... she knew these feelings... she had felt the same so many years ago when her parents and her had taken Anna to the trolls, not knowing if her little sister would live or die. And now... Anna was...

The man snorted. "You want to trick me," he said. "You want to make me believe that you DIDN'T kill my family with your storms."

"I didn't," the Snow King countered. He crouched down so that his and the man's head were on the same level. "But that doesn't matter now. I came to tell you that you should start praying that my sister lives."

The man's eyebrow twitched. "And why would I do that?" he asked.

"Because she has never done you any harm? Matter of fact, the last time you were here she saved your life." He was getting a bit angry now, but he didn't show it. "Or maybe... because if she lives, your greatest wish will be fulfilled." The King made a pause. "I will let you kill me."

"What?" The man obviously didn't believe him. "Why would you do that?"

"Because as long as she is here, there will always be cowards like you who will target her to hurt me," the Snow King answered. "As long as she is here, she will never be save... and she's too stubborn to leave without me. But if I am dead, she can leave and won't be in danger anymore."

The man pondered for a moment, still not sure if he could trust the King. "And what if she dies?"

"Then..." The Snow King took a deep breath. "Then the promise I made to her will no longer protect you. I will kill the men you came with. Slowly. Painfully. And while I do this, I will think up the most creative and artistic way to execute you." He smiled grimly while he watched the man's eyes widen. "Oh, and if you think about killing yourself: I spoke to the other two men. They feel no loyalty for you, they just believed the stories you told them. They told me where you came from. They told me you were a warrior with high reputation there. And if my sister dies and you kill yourself... then I will become the monster you accuse me to be. I will wipe out your village... no, your entire country. And if I have the power... even I don't know if I have it... then I will create an endless winter, so that no human will be able to live there ever again." He stood up and turned around. "Anyway... you should probably start praying."

"Why does she mean so much to you?" the man asked, clearly shaken now.

"Because she is the only human being on this world," the Snow King answered while he started walking away, "who looks at me and DOESN'T see a monster."

* * *

Elsa had been forced into this vision, and she was nearly grateful when she was returned to her own body. If she had had any strength left in her body, she would have probably gotten angry at their cause. How dared they interrupt her mourning the fate of her only sister? But she was too emotionally spent, too all-encompassing was the sadness and desperation inside of her to leave room to any other emotion.

Anna... not you.

Some part of her brain was envious of the Snow King... sure, he didn't know if his sister would live or die, but even if he blamed himself for her fate, at least he had not killed her with his own powers. Elsa had sacrificed the better part of her life to keep Anna safe... and in the end, she had still been the one who had killed her. For a terrible moment she pondered if she should take out the pain she felt on others, like the Snow King's enemy had done... maybe Hans, this rotten liar! But why bother? She did not desire to stay in this world any longer. As soon as she was done crying she would probably save him the trouble and kill herself.

Anna... dear, sweet Anna... I'm so sorry.

She heard someone around her sob... or was it a gasp? Probably Olaf. He seemed to be a sentimental one, especially considering that Elsa and to some extent Anna were his "mothers", since he had been born from Elsa's fondest childhood memories. Or maybe it was this blonde man... who was he anyway? Oh, it didn't matter. He could save Anna no more than she could.

Why? Why would even her imagination turn against her, making her believe that Anna's lifeless body was suddenly feeling softer and warmer? She had finally run out of hope. Everyone should just let her grief in peace, didn't she deserve at least that much?

Oh Anna... I wish I had never been born.

She went rigid in the same moment she felt Anna's body move. This could not be... she couldn't... Elsa was terrified to look up at first, even when she heard a barely hearable, clearly FEMININE moan above her. She had been fooled so often to think that everything would turn out alright, only to realize that her fate could still get worse. She couldn't... just couldn't take another destroyed hope. And yet, when Anna's body moved again, Elsa's eyes looked up, nearly against her will.

"Anna?"

Her baby sister had a tired look on her face... even the soft smile on her lips looked kinda worn out. Still, in her whole life Elsa had never seen something as beautiful as Anna's very much ALIVE face. She gasped with joy as she hugged Anna as firm as she could, not caring one bit to wonder what had just happened. She didn't care.

"Oh Elsa."

Anna's sighed answer, filled with pure, unaltered happiness, mended Elsa's broken heart quicker than any troll magic. In this blissful moment Elsa didn't worry anymore. Prince Hans waking up and trying to kill them again? The blonde guy would warn them. Arendelle being frozen? They'd find a way to fix that – together. People might not accept both of them back as royalty? Who cared? Right now she just knew that everything would somehow be alright.

Because spring had returned to Arendelle.

* * *

I thought it was strange that the Snow King and the Spring Maiden always called each other "brother" and "sister", so I looked up names for them. "Sunna" is a sun goddess in German Mythology, "Ull" a Norse god of winter. I swear I didn't catch the similarities between Sunna/Anna and Ull/Elsa at first. Nice coincidence. Reviews please, I'm addicted to them!


	8. New beginnings

Thanks for all the reviews, Maria! I truely appreciate them :)

So, now it's time for the chapters that take place after the movie, since the story of Ull and Sunna is still not finished and I doubt that everything is immediately perfect after Arendelle is saved.

* * *

**New beginnings**

"I'm so spent!"

It was getting dark already. They had ice-skated for hours until the townsfolk had left them, then they'd had a snowball fight – although Olaf had been a little hesitant to throw the "little ones" at first –, and when their strength had left them they had started making snow angels. A staff member had brought Anna a thick jacket and so they were now leaning on the castle walls, looking at the vanishing sun. Anna's head was resting on Elsa's shoulder, Elsa's head bedded on Anna's hair. It was still an odd sensation, after more than a dozen years of no physical contact between them, but oh so very welcome.

Elsa smiled. "And here I thought that you were the livelier sister," she teased Anna.

The Princess snorted, but she remained as she was. She simply had no more power to move... not even to punch her evil big sister. "Give me a break," she replied, feigning anger. "Today I've climbed a mountain, was thrown off the same mountain by a snow giant, discovered troll courtship, was dumped by Prince Charming-my-ass..."

"Anna!"

"... was nearly cut down by the sword of said Prince I-won't-say-it AND after all of that we've spent hours here outside. I think I have a right to be tired."

There was a short pause.

"Troll courtship?" Elsa asked. Her voice was a mixture of amusement, doubt and simple content.

"You don't want to know," Anna told her, not taking her eyes off the sunset. "Trust me."

Another pause.

"Anna..." This time Elsa's voice was serious... and Anna thought that she heard some vulnerability. "You skipped some of today's events in your description..."

"Don't," Anna interrupted her firmly, putting her hand on Elsa's. Since they had been out here for so long they nearly had the same temperature now. "Not now, Elsa. Let's just... enjoy the sunset. Alright?"

Elsa's gently squeezed her sister's hand before she answered. "Alright."

After that the two sisters just enjoyed this near-unbelievable luxury they both had not enjoyed in years... simply sitting right next to each other, feeling the other's softness and wishing that these tender moments would last forever. Well, they at least lasted three minutes until Anna felt the need to talk again.

"I've wished for this so often," she said quietly. It was darkening now, the sun was nearly completely gone and the first stars were appearing. Still none of the sisters felt any need to move away from the other. It just felt... right. Even if it was becoming a little too cool for Anna, but she kept ignoring that for now. "Us... like this..."

"I know," Elsa whispered and planted a kiss on Anna's hair. "I've missed this too."

For years the silence between them had been unbearable, but now it was like a soft, comforting blanket.

"Elsa?"

Elsa was a bit alarmed by Anna's sudden shy, a little hesitant tone. Old fears made their way into her heart, having long ago discovered fast and easy ways to get in there, as she asked herself: Had she done something wrong? Was her skin getting cooler? Was Anna suddenly uncomfortable, remembering the fact that Elsa had frozen her heart just a few hours ago? Her head knew that these fears were silly... the only emotion Anna had expressed since she had broken Elsa's curse had been true happiness. But Elsa couldn't help it. Fueled by her fears, years and years of avoiding human contact at all costs were suddenly overwhelming her. Anna's skin... she was touching Anna! This was wrong! She would freeze her again! She had to...

"Elsa?" Anna's voice now sounded concerned. "What's wrong? Your skin has become cold again."

Oh god! Elsa was panicking now. She should have known better! It had been way too soon to touch Anna! Why hadn't she been content with just looking at and speaking with her sibling again? It was way more than one like her really deserved! No, no, she would lose control again! Conceal, don't feel, conceal, don't feel...

When she felt the cold, Anna sat up and turned around to look at her sister. Her eyes widened. Oh no! Elsa seemed to have a nervous breakdown! The older girl's eyes were glassed over, her lips slightly moving, as if she was talking to herself, while layers of ice began to appear everywhere on her body, as if she was trying to shield herself... or someone else. Anna wasted no time and, slightly wincing, put her hands on Elsa's ice-cold cheeks.

"Elsa!" she shouted. "Elsa, stop it! Do you LOVE me, Elsa?"

The older sister gasped and her eyes became clear as she looked at Anna's face. Love...?

"Do you LOVE me, Elsa?" Anna repeated, more quiet this time. Her hands were getting numb, but she didn't care. "Because I LOVE you, big sister. More than anyone."

Did she love Anna? What a ridiculous question! Elsa didn't really realize that her magic had started subsiding, all she could do was staring into her dear sister's face while this warm, precious feeling started to make its way from her heart through her entire body. Yes, she loved Anna. She loved her sibling so intensely that it scared her a bit, maybe because of all the lost years when she had not been allowed to let this love out or form other bonds. They had longed for each other's company for so long... and just today Anna had offered many undeserved proofs of love for her older sister, from following Elsa into the mountains when everyone else was scared of her to jumping in the way of Hans' sword to save Elsa's life. How could she NOT...?

* * *

The man looked at the sword in front of him disbelievingly. Then his eyes wandered to the Snow King who was standing right in front of him and had put the sword there. The ice walls of his cage were melting.

"She did make it then?" the man asked tentatively.

The Snow King was again wearing his most emotionless face as a mask, but his feelings... Elsa instinctively clutched to the rock-solid determination, which permeated his whole being, to save herself from drowning in her own emotions. And then she used his love for the Spring M... Sunna to calm herself down. Never before had she been grateful for having these visions... but this one might have saved her from harming Anna. Anna! Elsa looked around, but of course her sister was not with her here in the Snow King's world. And yet... for some strange reason Elsa felt that Anna wasn't far away this time. What did that mean?

"Sunna is alive," the Snow K... Ull confirmed. Now that her own feelings had calmed down, Elsa was not sure if she should feel happy or sorry for her other self. True, she knew his memories where the trolls told him that Sunna would live, and the weak smile of the girl made the heart Elsa and Ull were now sharing glow with protective instinct and love. Never again would something like this happen to her, and her brother would make sure of that! He had not dared to tell her before she had fallen asleep again, but he had told her sleeping form of his true feelings and his decision. Then he had gone, taking the sword of the man who wanted to kill him with him. And now he was staring at this man and continued: "And the trolls think that she will make a full recovery." His eyes hardened. "And don't even THINK about going after her when we are done here!"

The man shook his head and stood up, still a little wobbly. "I won't," he said. "She... is a remarkable woman... living with you without fear... defending you so ardently..." He paused for a second. "Making you do... this."

"To me she is more than that," Ull replied. He knelt down. "Let's get it over with."

The man still hesitated. "This is no joke?" he asked for assurance. "Not a cruel way to get my hopes up one last time only to kill me in the last moment?"

"You'll never know if you don't do it." Elsa could feel Ull's frustration and she could relate to it. Here he was, finally reformed, willing to make the ultimate sacrifice... and even now nobody believed him. Elsa shuddered while thinking about that time when Hans and his lackeys had attacked her in her palace and she very nearly had become the killer whom everyone feared. Saving her from truly becoming a Snow Queen might have been the only good thing Hans ever did.

The man picked up his sword and walked up to him, still not striking. "I will... apologize to your sister after this," the man told him, his voice very serious now. "It is true... it was not right to involve her in this."

A sad smile krept on Ull's face. "She will try to claw out your eyes if she hears what you have done," he warned. And she would. She had a fiery spirit deep inside of her. Elsa chuckled in his mind when she remembered Anna punching Hans so hard that he fell off the boat. Oh Anna... you and Sunna really are very much alike.

"NO!"

Both the man and Ull turned their heads to the front door of the castle. There Sunna was – barely – standing, one of trolls supporting her as best as he or she could. The girl was trembling, obviously using all of her strength to just stay upright. There indeed WAS a fiery spirit inside of her. Elsa blinked. And... more than that? Could that be?

Anna?

Elsa?

The two sisters were too shocked to do anything else than trying to somehow sense what they couldn't see. They were here? Both of them? Together? Fortunately Sunna could not sense them, since she had her own pressing matters right in front of her.

"How DARE you!" she shouted, nearly collapsing as she tried to move forward. The troll beneath her groaned. "How dare you doing this to me!"

"What are you doing here?" Ull asked. Elsa could feel his helplessness grow. This was why he had waited until she had been asleep. He didn't want to cause her more pain than necessary! Elsa's felt like whimpering when she heard these thoughts and saw herself sitting in her frozen room, trying to keep everyone else safe.

Anna...

"How dare you go and leave me alone!" Sunna's voice was getting weaker. "And you," she addressed the man, "get away from him! I won't allow you to kill my brother!" The girl had run out of strength and she fell on her knees. Only sheer willpower was keeping her conscious. Anna tried to mix their feelings even more, tried to give Sunna strength, the strength she herself had felt when she had been weak and dying and then had seen Hans attempting to kill her sister.

Elsa...

The face of the man was like stone, but his eyes were uncertain. "My family..."

"... is dead!" Sunna screamed. "Have you even properly mourned them before you went on to kill MY family?" Tears were running down her face how... she was so desperate that Anna wanted nothing more than to hug her. "Don't do it," she pleaded, her voice losing strength. "Please... don't kill my brother."

"Sunna, this is for the best," Ull tried to reason with her – which wasn't easy since his own emotions were running wild and he could feel that the ice palace was close to react. "You!" he addressed the troll. "Get her out of here! Take care of her!" Then he looked at the man. "What are you waiting for? Do you want to make it even harder?"

"No!" Sunna escaped the troll's grip, but she didn't have enough strength anymore to even kneel, so she fell down. She groaned, but still her eyes were fixed on her brother. Anna felt like crying. This wasn't fair, this just wasn't fair! Who could see this scene and NOT feel the love between these two siblings? "Please no," Sunna begged again, her voice getting weaker. "I love him!"

The warrior looked at her, than at her brother. As Ull closed his eyes, he raised the sword... and then it fell to the ground. Everyone was surprised when the man who had tried to kill the Snow King twice fell on his knees and buried his face in his hands. "I can't," the man said, his voice strained. "I can't believe it anymore... that someone who loves his sister so strongly took my family away from me for no reason."

Anna, Elsa, Sunna and Ull were all equally stunned, but the latter overcame it faster than the others. He jumped to his feet and quickly crossed the distance where his sister was lying, barely conscious now. He was barely aware that the troll walked over to the man. He didn't really care. He gently picked Sunna's body up from the ground and stood up.

"You idiot," he whispered. "You should have stayed in bed. You are by no means healthy enough to do something stupid like this."

"Can't... leave me," his sister mumbled, leaning her head against his shoulder. He wasn't even sure if she had heard him.

"I won't," he promised her and started walking towards the troll village. "The Snow King will still disappear today." He gently squeezed her shoulder and enjoyed the wonderful warmth of her body. "But the two of us... we will go home soon."

* * *

Both Anna and Elsa gasped as they found themselves back in their own bodies. They stared at each other, Anna's hands still on Elsa's cheeks.

"Did... you see that too?" Anna whispered.

Elsa nodded slowly. "Were you there?" she asked quietly. "Were we both... there?"

"It seems so..."

As Anna took her hands away from Elsa's cheeks, she winced. Elsa's eyes widened, but Anna interrupted her thoughts.

"Elsa!" she said sharply while blowing on the hands to warm them. "They are just a bit cold! You did NOT freeze them!"

"But..." Elsa couldn't take her eyes off Anna's hands.

"No but!" Anna sighed. "Look, it's getting cold here anyway. Can we please go in and warm up a bit?"

Elsa nodded and stood up. Anna was right. She needed to learn to express her emotions, but not let them run wild. Yes, she did not have enough experience yet, but she could not let this fact ruin the new relationship she had with her sister. If she did, both of them would probably never recover. She would just have to be careful and trust in their mutual love. Still, she was feeling a little uneasy as she looked at Anna.

The younger sister smiled at her, although it seemed a tiny bit forced. "Hey, don't be so gloomy again," she scolded the older girl. "You know, we could warm my hands by having a sleepover and you massaging them..." She stopped talking when she realized that Elsa had paled slightly. "Elsa?"

"Sleepover?" Elsa's voice was meek and Anna immediately realized her mistake.

"Oh, Elsa, no!" she exclaimed, mentally hitting herself. "Me and my stupid blabbermouth again! I understand, you have been in your room for so long, and we have just cleaned up this mess that is our lives, and now I'm already talking about doing all kinds of girly stuff as if the last thirteen years hadn't happened." Elsa seemed to be calm, but Anna knew that this outburst before the vision had probably hit her older sister hard. She feverishly thought what she could do to prevent Elsa from retreating into her shell again. "I got it! There's still some of that delicious chocolate left from the party! You know, the guests not being very hungry after you, you know, exposed... aaargh, I'm rambling again!" She smiled nervously. "What I want to say is... can we go in, have some chocolate and... talk? Just talk?"

Elsa's smile was a bit forced now either, but it was a smile. "Sure... I'd like that."

They didn't speak anymore until they had reached the eating room, having told one of the kitchen staff to bring them two cups of hot chocolate – with Anna nearly shoving her cold hands into the poor woman's face for extra emphasis. This wasn't the nice silence from before anymore... this was way too close to the uncomfortable silence of year-long solitude.

"So," Anna began, after they had gotten their hot chocolate, since she couldn't bear the silence any longer. "Have you had these... visions all your life too?"

"Yes," Elsa answered quietly, looking into her cup.

"That's so strange." Anna chuckled nervously. Why was this so hard? They had had hours of fun today, and now they suddenly couldn't even talk to each other. "You know... not knowing if we have been here before... on this world, I mean. And... not knowing how much of my feelings for you are really mine and how much of it belong to the Spring Maid..."

"No!"

Anna flinched when Elsa nearly slammed the cup on the table. Elsa's stare was quite intense.

"No, I don't accept that. Maybe we have been here before, maybe not... I don't know. But I am ME! You are YOU! We are sisters! And I refuse to believe that what I feel is coming from anywhere else but here." She pointed at her heart and suddenly her mouth was dry. "I... I love you, Anna."

Anna's mouth had been open, but now it formed a genuine smile. "I love you too, Elsa," she said warmly. Then she giggled. "I'm sorry. I'm just being silly again."

"No, you are not," Elsa disagreed. "You are an amazing young woman, Anna. Without you Arendelle would still be frozen."

Anna blushed a little. "Thank you... but we BOTH did that." She pointed at Elsa's cup. "By the way, shall I call someone to reheat your chocolate?"

Elsa looked down. And sure enough, her outburst just now had frozen the hot chocolate. This was... seriously depressing.

"Don't worry about it," she heard Anna's voice and looked up. Her sister was showing her one of her wonderful, endearing smiles. "You can't learn total control in just one day. We'll figure it out."

Elsa smiled back. "I guess we will," she said warmly. They waited until someone had reheated Elsa's chocolate. "You know, this is nice... you and me... talking," she continued.

"It is," Anna agreed and finished her chocolate.

"Maybe... we could start anew like this," Elsa further developed the thought. "Getting to know each other again. Telling each other... what these last thirteen years were like. What we felt today." She glanced at Anna, who was looking back, intrigued. "You know... letting each other in slowly... getting close again... as we were as children."

Anna put her hand on Elsa's. "That sounds great," she said, her voice warmer than her now-warm-again hand. "Sleepovers can wait. I won't force you into anything, Elsa. It's already unbelievable that we are sitting here like this."

It was a wonderful moment. It lasted until Anna yawned, causing Elsa to giggle.

"Way to ruin a moment, little sister," she teased the younger girl.

Anna pouted, but then she rubbed her eyes. "I'm too tired to fight with you," she announced. "It was a long day. We should probably both go to sleep."

"True," Elsa agreed and stood up. When Anna reached for her hand to walk to their rooms together, Elsa just barely flinched. Anna noticed nonetheless, maybe because of the minimal drop of temperature in her hand.

"I'm s-"

"Don't," the younger girl cut her off, her eyes now wide awake and strong again. "I'll never let you go again, Elsa," she said with great sincerity. "Never again."

What was it with this girl that she constantly made Elsa smile? "I don't want you to," the older sister admitted. Together they walked to Anna's room. And even though Elsa went to her own room after that, for the first time in forever they didn't feel the slightest bit lonely anymore.

* * *

Alright, next time Elsa won't have an excuse - the sleepover WILL happen.


	9. Sleepover

Thanks for the reviews, Faith and Maria! It feels good to be appreciated.

This chapter may be a bit... overdramatic at times. What do you think?

* * *

**Sleepover**

"Elsa!"

Elsa sighed. She loved Anna, but the girl definitely had no sense of timing. True, there were days that included hardly any royal duties, and Anna had practically forced her to rely on her royal advisors more often so that they could spend more time together... but their parents had been dead for quite some time now and there were many things to work off. She was quite certain that at daytime Anna was having more fun than her, often being out there with Kristoff, Sven and Olaf, having fun. Yet no one could say that Anna wasn't doing her part. She was a natural at talking to people and many townspeople who were still too embarrassed or afraid to talk to members of the administration – especially the former Snow Queen – face to face told her about problems Elsa and her advisors would probably have never heard about.

Also the merchants from other countries! Technically Anna would just look at and sometimes buy the exotic things they brought with them – Elsa smiled when she had remembered how Kristoff had once complained to her that he had spent a whole day carrying Anna's newly bought things throughout town –, but most of the times merchants were more important than ambassadors when it came to spreading news. They would ask questions about the infamous Snow Queen, what about the rumors of dangerous sorcery was true... and Anna would be there, telling them what a warmhearted – Elsa snorted – person her older sister was despite their rather tragic childhood, how often Elsa would use her magic to entertain children, how seriously Elsa took her duties as a queen... according to her Elsa pretty much was a saint. It had only been a year since the Day of the Snow Queen – Elsa personally hated the name her subjects had invented – had nearly brought an end to Arendelle, but Elsa thought that Anna's influence on the commoners had helped the country at least as much as everything she had done to mend the relationships between them and the neighboring country's rulers.

She really shouldn't complain... but this letter was important! She had told Anna that much! She sighed.

"Come in, Anna."

And in she came. In her nightgown. And two maid servants were with her, carrying a tablet full of pastry and a hot can full of some kind of beverage. Elsa blinked.

"Anna, what...?"

"Put the tea and the pastry on the bedside table. That will be all, thank you."

The maid servants curtsied and left the queen's room. And just WHY had they looked like they were trying to hide a smile?

"Anna, what is all of this about?" Elsa demanded to know. The last two days had been particularly stressful and she had been looking forward to finishing this last letter in maybe two hours and then falling into a deep, dreamless sleep, preferably in her bed if she still had enough strength left to reach it.

"Sleepover." Anna grinned at her. "You promised, remember?"

Elsa groaned. Such a promise might indeed have been made. Her's and Anna's constant talks had done much to mend their near-broken relationship. They knew much more about each other now... and with Anna's love constantly surrounding her, allowing her to relax even after stressful days, Elsa's control over her powers had increased significantly. And Anna was very good at catching her in moments when she would promise EVERYTHING for just one moment of peace. "Anna, this is not a good time. This letter..."

"... is the one the ambassador of Corona delivered, isn't it? The one talking about a trade agreement?"

Elsa gawked at her little sister, causing the latter to grin. She had just begun reading the document. "How do you...?"

Anna hummed and poured the hot tea into two cups. "I had a nice talk with the ambassador when you had your meeting with the advisors. He didn't tell me anything specific, but he kinda mentioned that Corona might be willing to strengthen its relationship with us – through increased trade, I suppose, since they have no princes who could marry either one of us." Anna looked at Elsa. "That would be really helpful, wouldn't it?"

Elsa cleared her throat, trying to regain her composure. Well... Anna was right. If that was what this letter was about... then yes. Since Arendell's relations to Weselton and the Southern Isles had become strained to non-existent, to put it politely, and many other countries were still wary of her, although thank god they didn't tell their merchants to stop doing business with them... "Yes, that would be great news." She looked at Anna curiously. "But why would you be so interested in that?"

Anna's face switched to sad. "You promised, Elsa," she remembered the older sister quietly. "You promised that we would have a sleepover today."

Elsa flinched. Anna sometimes was a rather devious person, as she had found out. When the younger sister had discovered that Elsa could hardly resist her when Anna looked at her with these sad eyes, she had immediately started exploiting that fact – shamelessly.

"Anna... if this letter could lead to a formal trade agreement with Corona then I absolutely MUST answer it today. The ambassador..."

"... will NOT leave us tomorrow." Elsa had KNOWN that the sad face hadn't been real – now the slightly mischievous grin was back on Anna's face again. "Since he will be visiting your Ice Palace with Kristoff and Sven."

Elsa blinked. "He will WHAT?" she asked in a voice that was close to threatening. Her patience was wearing thin now. Just what else had Anna arranged behind her back?

Anna seemed to sense that she might have gone a little far with that. She put her hand on the back of her head and chuckled nervously. "Well, you know... when I heard about the letter and what's in it, I immediately thought 'Oh no, then Elsa surely won't have time today, although she promised me'. But then I wondered what if the ambassador stayed for another day? And we talked a bit and he admitted that he would really like to see your Ice Palace up close... I mean, you know that people call it the most important sight of Arendelle, right?"

Elsa just nodded. That seemed to be the case indeed. Funny that people were so interested in her creation since it had once been built as a statement of her being on her own.

"Well yeah... then I thought 'Kristoff has never had time to really inspect and appreciate the beauty of the palace', and since he is so fond of ice in general I just asked him. And he said that this was a great idea, that he'd love to guide the ambassador up there and show him around. I mean, you know Kristoff – he loves ice nearly as much as you do, I'm certain he will be very careful and break nothing."

Elsa thought of the fight that had happened after Anna had left the Ice Palace. Anna didn't know about the devastation there. Sure, the palace was still standing and even with the shattered chandelier her creation was still an amazing piece of art, she admitted to herself. She continued staring at her sister who was getting more and more uncomfortable.

"Uh... haha... I thought that this was the perfect solution, the boys having an adventure tomorrow and we having our sleepover tonight... and I was really looking forward to that. But I guess... I should have asked you first? … Elsa? Are you... very mad at me?"

Elsa continued to stare for one more moment, keeping her little sister squirming as payment for the fake sad face before. Then she started smiling. "No, I am not mad at you, Anna," she told her sister who visibly relaxed. "But you SHOULD have talked to me first."

"I know," Anna replied, at least a bit embarrassed. "Sorry!"

Elsa sighed and looked at her desk. "Still... I really should finish this letter tonight nonetheless. Tomorrow there will just be more work..."

"Oh no!" Anna shouted and walked over to her, putting her hands on Elsa's shoulders. "Not after all the work I've put... Good Lord, Elsa, just how tense ARE you?"

Elsa hadn't realized that herself. Her muscles had started protesting just now... but she had sat here pretty much all day, she shouldn't be surprised. What DID surprise her was the fact that Anna suddenly started massaging her tense shoulders, gently kneading the hardened flesh with her soft, warm hands. Elsa couldn't help it, her body instinctively relaxed, she closed her eyes and a low moan escaped her throat, causing her little sister to laugh.

"Gee, am I glad the servants aren't here right now," she giggled while she continued her ministrations. "There would have been a lot of dirty rumors running around if anyone had heard that moan coming out of your room."

"Mmmmmmh," Elsa mumbled, half-agreeing. Her mind hadn't really registered a word Anna had said, since it was currently bathing in these new, glorious sensations. Where had Anna learned to use her hands like that? After these countless hours of work, this felt like HEAVEN.

Anna felt a little naughty as she bent down and whispered into Elsa's ear while continuing to caress her sibling's cold skin: "Tell you what: How about tomorrow we sit down together and study this letter? I could certainly help you answering it. Did you know for example that we might have to thank Princess Rapunzel for the ambassador's visit, dear sister?"

"Hmmmmwhat?" Elsa was still in a dreamlike state, but she HAD heard the last part.

"It's true. One of the merchants that were on the same ship as the ambassador told me that he heard the princess talk about us to her husband when they were walking through town once. It seems that she thinks you and her are somehow alike and that her father was bull-headed for delaying her suggestion of a trade agreement that long." Then Anna stopped the massage and walked over to Elsa's bed, sitting down on it.

"Really?" Elsa asked. That was pretty interesting, but somehow she didn't want to talk about this right now. "Why did you stop?" she demanded to know. "That felt wonderful."

Anna grinned proudly. "If you want more, you have to come over here," she answered, patting on the space next to her. "Come on, big sis! Enough talk – time for our first proper sleepover!"

Elsa didn't have it in her to protest anymore. She stood up and smiled. "Alright, alright, you win," she resigned herself to her fate. "But no pillow fight! These cushions are just the way I like them!"

Anna shrugged. "Well, sometimes you have to compromise."

* * *

"Tea this time?" Elsa asked when Anna refilled her cup. "No chocolate?"

"Gotta watch our waistlines, sis."

"Me?" Elsa's eyebrows twitched. Then her lips formed a sly smile. "Or could it be that Kristoff isn't fond of fat princesses?"

"I'm not fat!" Anna exclaimed, blushing. When she realized that she had pretty much answered her sister's question, she looked away, embarrassed. "It's not like that," she mumbled.

Elsa ate another pastry. "Awwww, it's not so bad, little sister," she teased Anna and patted Anna's cheek, causing the younger girl to grimace. "I'm sure he will still like you even if you don't fit into his sled anymore."

"Elsa!" Anna exclaimed laughing and playfully tugged at her sister's hair. "You're such an evil, evil witch!"

"So I've been told," Elsa said, chuckling. The following seconds the siblings spent giggling and gently punching each other. Then Elsa suddenly grew serious.

"Anna... is there a special reason why you wanted to have a sleepover today?" she asked.

Suddenly her bubbly younger sister was serious too. "Actually... there is," she admitted. She stared into her cup for a few seconds. "Elsa... why have we never talked about this room before?"

Elsa tensed. Her sister's divine massage skills, half an hour of braiding and admiring each other's hair, lots of tea and smalltalk had been a much needed release, she had to admit. She had felt more relaxed than she had felt in quite some time. Until now. "What do you mean?" she inquired cautiously. "You have been in here before."

"We have," Anna agreed. "We've talked about your dresses, about your room being much too proper and mine being a battlefield, as we have talked about the events after your coronation, our likes and dislikes, which books we prefer and much more in the last year." Her glance became... serious, almost somber. "We also have talked about the time when we still talked to each other, before mama's and papa's death, and that after that I pretty much fled into the world of bad romance novels, and you even shared the secret of the accident with me and why you never told me about your magic..." She broke of for a moment, sensing that this was not a topic Elsa was happy to talk about, but then she continued, with a quiet voice. "But Elsa, you have never told me what happened to you in these three years... being alone in here all the time. You've always evaded this topic."

Elsa was hesitant. She loved her sister more than anyone, and she and Anna had indeed regained a strong foundation of trust between the two of them... but these three years Elsa just wanted to lock away and forget them like a bad dream. Even though they had been all too real. "Anna..."

"Elsa, please." Anna embraced Elsa's hand with her own. It seemed even more cool than usual. "I see you everyday, trying your hardest to make Arendelle the best country there is – as if you are trying to make up for your failings one year ago WHICH NO ONE WHO IS IMPORTANT BLAMES YOU FOR ANYMORE." Her sister seemed not convinced, but Anna would NOT let Elsa doubt her abilities. Her sister was a committed, hard-working ruler and wonderful human being now, it was so infuriating that she seemingly STILL couldn't let go of the past. "And after that you still often spend your little spare time with me. You are the best person I know and the best sister I could wish for, although you have this bad habit to try shouldering the burden of the whole kingdom alone. I'm usually not good with paperwork, but I WANT to help you, if you'd just let me. And I think the best way I can would be to help you carry the pain of these three years. PLEASE, Elsa," Anna begged, her eyes soft and soothing now. "Please let me help you."

Elsa was moved by Anna's outburst, even a bit shaken. Even after a whole year she was still a very self-reliant person, and Anna was right in that much of her hard work was because she still blamed herself for what she had done as the Snow Queen. In their past talks Anna had freely told her about her own past, but when she thought about it... she herself had answered Anna's questions, but she hadn't told her sister much aside from that. It was still hard. She could see that Anna wanted to see the whole her, but these three years... she didn't want to relive them ever again. And yet she had failed to see that her reluctance to let Anna in would also hurt her little sister... something she had sworn to avoid at all costs.

"Anna... talking about the accident was hard enough... but these years... they very nearly broke me," she answered, hesitant. "I don't know..."

"Elsa, you KNOW what happens when you bottle up your feelings," Anna remembered her. The younger girl winced. "Something like your hand getting really cold. JUST cold," she quickly interjected, "NOT frozen!"

Elsa reacted immediately and used the image that never failed to calm her powers down: the face of her beloved younger sister. Anna sighed.

"Elsa, I can see how much this bothers you," she said quietly. "If you REALLY don't want to talk about it now, it can wait... but I'm beginning to blame myself for not being able to help you while you get more and more stressed. Please... let me in."

These three words did it. Elsa took a deep breath. "You have no idea how much your mere presence is helping me, Anna," she reassured her sister and gently squeezed her warm hand. "But... maybe you are right and I need to get this out. Can we at least start with just one day?"

"Of course," Anna quickly said. "It's three years after all. Take your time."

Elsa swallowed. "Then let's start at the beginning... with the funeral."

And then Elsa told Anna how back then she had desperately tried to take her mind off the fact that her parents were being buried and she would not be there. How she had carved ice statues until her powers had failed and shattered each of them. How she had studied. How she had sung. And how she had told herself over and over again that she would visit the graves when everyone else was asleep... how she would beg their parents for forgiveness that she was still too weak to control herself. Anna, unusual for the younger girl, listened without a word, only stopping Elsa with gentle squeezes when her hand was cooling down again, and then waiting patiently until Elsa regained control.

Then Elsa talked about how Anna had been in front of her door and had begged her to come out, the voice of the younger girl a terrible mixture of grief and resignation. Elsa had immediately known back then that Anna had given up. She had not believed that Elsa would open the door, even on this darkest of days. Anna had really been there to say farewell to the relationship they once had. At this point of the story Elsa was trying very hard to hold back her tears and her powers alike, while Anna let the first tears flow freely. The bed beneath Elsa got coated with rime, but Anna just clenched her teeth. She continued to hold Elsa's hand until the older girl had calmed down again, only then she used the teapot to warm up her hands again. After that Elsa continued to describe that this had been the first day when she had completely lost control... until then her powers had often frozen a wall, maybe two, but this had been the first day when the whole room had become one single piece of ice.

"After I had visited our parents," Elsa told Anna, her voice slightly wavering, "I asked myself for the following two days why I should even try to live on. As you had lost hope in me, I had lost hope that I would ever be able to control my powers. I didn't even care about Arendelle anymore back then... the only real reason that kept me going on that day... was the thought that if I did that you would be as alone as I felt. That I had at least to survive until you married and could move on."

Anna's one hand was still embracing Elsa's, her other now caressing her sister's cheek, wiping away a singular cold tear. Right now even she was ignoring wall behind her that was beginning to freeze over. She sniffed.

"Oh Elsa," she whispered. "I thought I understood... but I had no idea. You were in so much pain... and still you were worrying about me."

Elsa looked at her younger sister, not realizing through her tears that Anna was shivering. "You were my last anchor, Anna," she admitted, trying to calm down her feelings, but failing. "I-I knew that I had lost you, but at least you were still alive. And that nothing had changed... that I had to stay in my room or you would be in mortal danger."

Anna couldn't take it anymore. She pulled her sister into an embrace, placing Elsa's head softly on her chest, kissing the older girl's hair. Elsa's skin was now very near freezing, but Anna was determined to last as long as she could. This wonderful sister deserved at least that much!

"You are so strong, Elsa," she sobbed. "If it had been me... I wouldn't have made it. Thank you... for everything."

Elsa's listened to the sound of Anna's heartbeat... this sound that was so beautiful because it was still THERE. Because it had not perished in a block of ice. And although Anna did only last about a minute, until she had to release Elsa, the sound helped Elsa immensely in regaining control. Anna was still here. And she had even warmed up her hands one more time on the teapot and started caressing Elsa's hands again.

"Anna... YOU are my strength," she managed to utter, her voice still raw. But at least she had managed to stop the icicles around them from growing any bigger. "Without knowing that you were alive I would not have survived... let alone learned to control my magic." She put her hand on Anna's cheek and was relieved that the tears on the younger girl's face just became cold, but did not freeze. Still, she pulled the hand back soon. "And even today you are still not done brightening my days and saving me from myself. You are amazing... my Spring Princess."

Anna managed to smile. "I really wish you would take credit for yourself, Elsa. You are always sacrificing your time and happiness for others. You deserve much more than just a clumsy blabbermouth like me... my dear Snow Queen."

* * *

He wished she would stop crying. He always felt helpless then. He could create wonders of art and stop armies, but he just didn't know how to console people... even the one he cared about so much right in front of him.

Elsa blinked. This again? She had thought that these visions would stop after the King and the Maiden had left his icy domain and went home to their parents. She tried to sense her sister... yes, she could feel Anna's sheer limitless compassion trying to dampen Sunna's heartache. Ull himself didn't really know what to feel, a feeling Elsa knew all too well when she thought of herself talking with ambassadors of other countries. Ull felt equally out of place. He had grown up in this house... so long ago. But not only had no one welcomed them here, as he had foretold, also their parents had died in their absence.

The former Snow King could hardly remember them anymore, let alone feel more than faint regret. Neither did he particularly care about the opinions of the people who had forced him to leave this village. It wasn't like anyone here had the courage to face him now. But Sunna... she had dreamed of this day, when their family would be united again. Now their parents were gone... and without them they were nothing but two strangers here. He had pondered leaving the village and move back to the Ice Castle, or creating a new home somewhere else, but he couldn't decide that without Sunna... and he just didn't know how to talk to his sister when she was crying like that. All he could do was hold her, and even there he sorely lacked experience.

Anna felt like crying again when she was overwhelmed by Sunna's own grief. So much the young Maiden had accomplished, only to find out that their family couldn't be reunited anymore. Anna remembered her own feelings at the funeral of her parents... the empty feeling of not only being an orphan, but also for all intents and purposes an only child orphan. Sunna had her brother at least... where Elsa and Anna had had the privileges of being princesses and never having to worry about food or shelter, Sunna and Ull had each other, but the rest of their lives was in shambles.

"What-what will become of us now?" Sunna whimpered, desperately clinging to her brother.

"I don't know," Ull replied, trying not to sound as tense as he was. "We could go away... start anew elsewhere." He paused. "Or we could stay... we'll never really fit in, but that won't change wherever we go."

Sunna sniffed. "I-I've hoped so much... that once we came back here, everything would be alright." Anna smiled sadly in the girl's mind. They really were alike. Sunna had just been hopelessly optimistic about the future. She needed someone like Ull to keep her grounded. Like she needed her big sister.

"Life's often cruel," her brother said, his face darkening. He hugged her firmer. "Look, Sunna, I don't know what will happen. And we don't have to decide that today. But I promise you one thing." He paused for a moment and Elsa could feel his determination rising which she had been envious of often before. "I will NOT allow that you suffer because you saved me. We WILL create our own home... here or elsewhere. And whatever happens... I will be there to protect you. Always."

Elsa closed her mental eyes. So Ull had finally realized that not only did he need his sister in his life... but that she couldn't be strong all the time. That there would be moments like these when this strong-willed girl needed HIM. And herself... she was not done healing yet. Perhaps it would take years to truly overcome thirteen years of increasing isolation. But she had tried to heal on her own... and unwillingly, she had shut Anna out again. Had done the one thing Anna feared the most, although luckily it by far had not been so all-encompassing as in their childhood. She could not do this anymore. They needed each other. Even more than she had thought.

* * *

"For real?" Elsa groaned when she found herself back in her own body. She and Anna were still lying in her bed, which was now a bit wet... but fortunately her temperature was on its normal cool level now and Anna was at least not shivering. The ice in the room had melted.

"I know," Anna agreed. Her chest was still a bit cold. She hoped she wouldn't get sick... then Elsa would just blame herself again. "Will they never stop?"

Elsa just shrugged. For a moment the was silence between them. Then she touched Anna's hand again and looked at the other girl with her most serious expression. "Anna... I'm sorry. For shutting you out again. That was not my intention. I know, I promised I wouldn't do it again, but old habits really die hard, I guess."

Anna smiled at her. "It's okay."

Elsa shook her head. "No, it is not." She paused for a moment. "You were right. There is still much we have not talked about... which I even hide from myself. I must try to overcome this." She smiled back. "And I would be honored if you would help me with that, little sister."

"Oh Elsa," Anna laughed and kissed Elsa's cheek. "You know you don't have to ask." They looked at each other warmly for a few seconds, then Anna closed her eyes and grinned brightly. "Well... not bad for a first sleepover, I'd say."

"First?" Elsa raised an eyebrow. "You have already planned more?"

"Oh, I've planned lots! For thirteen years I have been deprived of sleepovers, hugs, kisses, sappy girl talk... I won't let you get away with this!" She pointed at her sister, looking stern... well, at least trying to.

"Good Lord," Elsa muttered, but a gentle smile stayed on her face. "And after we have worked off all thirteen years?"

Anna looked up thoughtfully. "Well, I guess then we will have to look at the accumulated interest of that stuff. Should be another three to four years full of hugs and sleepovers, I reckon."

Now Elsa had to laugh. She felt truly relaxed and content right now. The last time she had felt like this had probably been as a child, before the accident. She pulled Anna into a hug. "I love you, Anna," she whispered into the younger girl's ear. "So very much. Please never leave me."

"Mmmm, love you too," Anna murmured, resting her head on Elsa's chest. "You are warm, Elsa."

"I somehow doubt that."

"You are," Anna insisted. She placed her hand on Elsa's heart. "Here."

Elsa paused for a moment. Then she kissed Anna's hair. "Sleep now, little sister," she breathed. "Sweet dreams."

"Mmmm, g'night."

Anna seemingly was already half-asleep. She had always been good at falling asleep in mere moments. Elsa laid awake a little longer, enjoying Anna's familiar warmth. She wished that her parents could see them like this. They would probably be overjoyed. But this was their life now. And it was very much worth living. With these thoughts the queen too fell asleep.

* * *

Alright, one more to go. It's Anna's and Kristoff's wedding day and Elsa is a bit sad that she has to let her sister go.


	10. I'll never let you go

It's finally finished! I'm glad that I decided to keep Ull and Sunna as the one past life instead of many different ones. They kinda grew on me. Did you like them too?

I think I need a bit of a break now. The next thing I'll write will probably be a series of drabbles in the Tangled/Frozen crossover section. I think I've mentioned once or twice that I think Rapunzel could probably understand Elsa better than most, with both of their early lives having been negatively influenced by magic.

Well, enough of this - enjoy the final chapter!

* * *

**I'll never let you go**

Anna looked beautiful.

Of course Elsa had noticed that before. They weren't like normal siblings... when they had seen each other again at her coronation ceremony, they had practically been strangers. And as with other strangers whom you feel close to although you know nearly nothing about them, you take a closer look. When they had stood next to each other at the coronation party, Anna had been revealed to be clumsy, a bit of a blabbermouth and quite naïve... all thanks to their lonely youth. But none of that had detracted from her sister's undeniable charm... actually they had added to it, as did Anna's warm-heartedness and her optimism.

These were things a sister would notice in her sibling. But Anna and her had also been strangers... and so she had also noticed that her little sister, whom she had held as a baby, played with as children and sometimes watched from afar before their parent's death, had undeniably grown up physically. Elsa would always regret that she had missed such a huge part of her little sister's journey into womanhood. She wished that she could have corrected Anna's worldview when the young girl had been reading cheesy romance novels. She wished that, although it was part of Anna's charm that she was NOT, she had been there to teach her little sister how to be a bit more sophisticated at times. And she wished that she had been there to hold Anna when the younger girl had had her first period, comforting her.

So many things she had missed... and nevertheless Anna had become such an amazing person. She had saved Elsa from herself and thereby all of Arendelle. And although she could be quite a pain in the neck, she had always helped Elsa relax and enjoy life, when the older sister had been overdoing things. She was the sun who brightened Elsa's winter.

And now she was grown up. And marrying. And Elsa felt conflicted.

They had chosen spring to marry. Elsa would have been surprised if it had been any other season. The season of new life complemented Anna's whole being perfectly. It was a big event... even though Anna's choice of whom to marry had offended some royals from other countries, many had still come, some only as an act of courtesy, but some seemed to respect her royal sister's choice to marry one of their subjects. That had been Elsa's greatest fear... she had known that not all of the other countries would take this well. But at least Corona, who had become their most important ally since the reveal of Elsa's magic, didn't seem to mind, if Princess Rapunzel's smile was any indication. Well, considering that the foreign princess had married a commoner herself, that was not such a big surprise. Elsa hadn't known that much about Corona back then, but she had heard that this had been quite an outrage, the only daughter of the king not only choosing not to strengthen the relations to another country by marrying a prince, but to marry a known thief of all people, regardless of Prince Eugene being responsible for Rapunzel being reunited with her parents. Considering that... the reactions to Anna's wedding had been – grudgingly – accepted quite quickly. Maybe the other royal families had realized that it might not be that big of a deal to cut off the relations to one country, but offending Arendelle AND Corona AND possibly other countries who might be swayed to take their side seemed to be too risky even for many traditionalists.

But more important were her subjects. Since pretty much everyone loved Anna and all but those jealous guys who had been dreaming of marrying her sister themselves – not that one of them would have DARED to ask the queen for Anna's hand – agreed that she and her soon-to-be-husband complemented each other perfectly, the church was way too small. Elsa had thought that many people had been here when she had been crowned, but right now it seemed like every human inhabitant of the country was inside the city walls. Elsa was still not used to crowds this big, but this was Anna's day. And Anna being Anna, she naturally wanted to share her own happiness with everyone.

Well... mostly everyone. Elsa was far too disciplined to grimace at the wedding ceremony of her only sister, but it might have been appropriate. This wedding had been in the works for nearly a year now, and more often than she cared to remember Elsa would have nearly lost control again. The work of a royal who still had to regain a lot of lost ground on the international stage because of her coronation disaster combined with the normal daily royal duties wasn't so easy, and even when she had felt happy for her dear little sister when Anna had one day nearly kicked in her door to then pull Elsa into a life-threatening hug and tell her big sister that Kristoff had finally asked her and that she had accepted the proposal... well, she hadn't known what that would mean.

Because Anna had insisted that Elsa was part of the WHOLE planning. Of the decorations. Of the guest list. Of the wedding feast. Of the security – well, that had been Kristoff's and Elsa's concern, Anna couldn't imagine why anyone would try to disturb a wedding. And the dress. Good Lord, the dress! Elsa had lost count of how often they had to change something on the dress or the whole thing altogether! The only things that had stopped a second endless winter in Arendelle had been the endless patience of Kristoff and the palace stuff, the many, many people offering to help with the wedding on their own and Anna's divine skills that always managed to calm a near-critical Elsa down in just one evening they spent together. Hugs, tender words, sisterly teasing and remembering their past... no matter what Anna said – to Elsa it needed great magic to calm her own ice powers.

And now Anna was here... in the church, standing in front of the old churchman that had also run her coronation ceremony. Since their father was long dead Anna had insisted that Elsa, though a woman herself, had to be the one leading her to the altar – no matter how much that would offend certain people! When Elsa had tried to explain why this was not a good idea from a religious or diplomatic standpoint, it had ended with a furious little sister leaving the room. It was not until later, when Elsa had come to her room to make up, that a crying Anna had told her that for this to be a happy day at all she had to be given to the man she loved by the single other person she loved just as much. Elsa had not been able to counter that.

And there had been mumbling when it had not been a man giving the bride away... but most had been just as mesmerized as Elsa had been. Most of the times when someone visited Arendelle, they would tell of the "regal", "composed" and "beautiful" queen, while the attributes of Anna would often be at best "spirited" or at worst "cute". No one would say that today. Anna's dress was now perfect. It was not shockingly revealing, but it did not scream "purity" either – it showed all of Anna's bare, endearingly freckled shoulders after all, and was otherwise much like a white version of the gown she had worn on Elsa's coronation ceremony too, immediately convincing everyone that her little sister was now a woman. Yet claims of indecency were undermined by her pigtail braids which covered her shoulders mostly and framed a golden necklace with an emerald. Anna had decided against the usual pinned-up hairstyle for royal receptions, because her husband had fallen in love with her braids first. The interwoven flowers made them quite a sight anyway, further enhancing the spring symbolism which had always complemented Anna well in Elsa's opinion. The most unique feature however was the highly artistic floral wreath made of ice which held Anna's wedding veil, Elsa's most important contribution to the wedding. Many townspeople had been startled at first when the sunlight had been reflected everywhere as Anna and Elsa had stepped outside of the castle for the parade through the town before the wedding ceremony. To Elsa's huge relief the cheering had started soon after.

Poor Kristoff! Dozens of people had been cheering and clapping for them, but the poor Ice Master and Deliverer, who had been waiting for them at the altar, had been unable to do anything but stare at his soon-to-be wife. Well, he wasn't alone and Elsa did agree that if a statue of spring had to be made this day, Anna would have been the model. And all the while her little sister was so quiet and demure that it almost made her wonder if this WAS Anna. But the smile on the bride's face, which Elsa had grown to love so much, was definitely her sister's. As was the nudging Anna gave Kristoff when the man was too baffled to take her hand. Fortunately that worked and the ceremony could begin.

Kristoff... he was a good man. He was the RIGHT man for Anna. Elsa had taken her role as Anna's protective relative quite seriously. Alright, the blonde man had gotten bonus points from the start for trying to break the curse Elsa had placed on Anna at the showdown of the Day of the Snow Queen, even if Anna had decided otherwise. But he had still been a stranger, and although Anna had assured Elsa that she would not make the same mistake as with Hans and take her time, it had still been very obvious that her younger sister had been infatuated. So Elsa had taken her time to get to know the new Ice Master and Deliverer. He was a hard and diligent worker, that had been clear quite soon. He was down-to-earth, which someone like Elsa's little sister desperately needed as a balance to her boundless optimism. When he was not around Anna, he was still a bit of a loner. Not that he feared crowds, he just seemed to be more content with some chosen few people. The first two were good, the third one problematic, if the man didn't want to embarrass her little sister around diplomats and royal guests... but back then Elsa hadn't been able to help but notice that these were also some of her own distinct characteristics. The thought that Anna had fallen for someone who was in many regards like Elsa had made the queen smile.

And yet, Kristoff was also different. He was a rather simple man and still had lots of learning and change in front of him now that he was becoming part of the royal family. Which Elsa had told him in one of their many talks about Anna in no uncertain words. He hadn't liked it, but he had accepted that he would have to leave a big part of his old life behind to stay with Anna. A quality which Elsa respected. But what had ultimately convinced Elsa was that Kristoff, unlike Elsa or her and Anna's parents, had the chance to be with Anna for a possibly the rest of her life without suddenly leaving and hurting her. She herself was doing her very best to spend her little spare time with her beloved little sister, but nothing would bring back these thirteen years of sisterly fun and adventures they had lost. Kristoff had the chance to heal this wound Anna was hiding so well behind her bright smiles... the wound of isolation, held open for years by the fear of yet-to-come losses.

Today Elsa was convinced that Kristoff would treat Anna with respect and love and would help her little sister heal, as Anna had helped Elsa heal her own mental scars. For that alone, if not for the fact that Anna was head over heels for the guy, Kristoff deserved that Elsa at least symbolically handed over her role as a family protector – although she would NEVER stop looking out for Anna completely – to him. With confidence that the blonde man would not let her or Anna down. But also, on her part, with a heavy heart.

She knew it was stupid, and was VERY careful not to let Anna notice anything, but the truth was that, for all the glowing happiness that surrounded her baby sister right now, a part of Elsa resented this marriage. For purely selfish reasons nonetheless. After the fateful Day of the Snow Queen Anna had been... hers. Whatever little spare time Elsa had had aside of her royal duties, Anna nearly always had immediately cleared her schedule to spend it with her big sister. Whenever Elsa had needed some relief from her work, whenever she had felt she needed company, and even more often when Elsa would have actually liked to work, Anna had been there. From her visits in the town and her spending time with Kristoff, Olaf and Sven, there had been nothing remotely as important to Anna than spending as much time as possible with her big sister... and vice versa. At least until Kristoff and Anna had entered the serious relationship stage. Elsa was happy now, that she didn't have to hide herself anymore, that her magic had been mostly accepted, but most of all she enjoyed how strong the near-destroyed bond between her and Anna had become again by spending as much time with each other as possible.

And yet now... their bond officially wouldn't be the only truly important one in Anna's life anymore. Maybe not even the most important one.

Elsa knew it was stupid. Siblings grew apart eventually, that was just the way it was. It was unfortunate that she and Anna had lost the bigger part of their childhood together, but Anna was old enough now to want to start a family of her own, no matter how much the hidden childish part of Elsa wanted all of her sister's attention for herself. And she knew that Anna would not even move out of the castle, with being the princess and current only heir to Elsa's throne, but still... fear had had a strong influence on her for nearly all her life, not as strong anymore now, but she couldn't help but questioning if contact between them from now on would be more... scarce? Building a family meant a lot of work after all – with children especially. Elsa loved the idea of Anna having children, Elsa's nieces and nephews. But would these make them a bigger, happier family... or would "Auntie Elsa" be someone whom they would find time to visit maybe once a week?

Or even less often...

Elsa hated to think like this, but she was honest enough that while Anna had formed many new bonds since the doors had been opened, with Elsa currently still being one of the two most important ones, Elsa herself wasn't like her outgoing sister. She got along fine with most of the people in Arendelle and some foreign diplomats and royals, but there was always distance. And while Anna had worked hard to become "one of their people", as she called it, Elsa just couldn't do it. Partly because she was the queen and rulers had to view things more objectively than their subjects... and partly because of her upbringing she just had lost the means to form friendships on her own. She needed people like Anna practically doing all the work themselves for that, with her just reacting in constant tension that this in the end might be another loss. Which in the love department made her very dependent on a few precious people, but especially her little sister. What if this love would now slowly drip away because Anna had to take care of her own family?

* * *

Life had definitely been easier before, when he had lived alone in his palace. Since he had started living here in his birth village in their parents' old house with Sunna, his feelings had been much harder to control than before. First the constant distrust from the villagers until some of the more compassionate ones had welcomed at least his newly orphaned sister back, then even more time before they had accepted that he would not kill anyone on sight, although that didn't mean that he would tolerate bullying of any kind... and then Hod.

Ull had no idea where the blonde "hunk", as Sunna called him, had come from. In fact nobody knew, he had just been travelling through and Sunna had given him a room for the night. And in the following years, he had returned. Again. And again. And before he knew what was happening, Sunna had told him with a big, goofy smile on her face that her and hunky Hod wanted to marry. That had been their first real fight ever, with a vase and two plates bursting from a sudden intense cold and one wall freezing over. But in the end Sunna had gotten her way. As always. Ull couldn't remember a handful of events when he had won one of their sibling verbal spars, in the Ice Castle or after.

And now he was outside of her room, while hunky Hod was inside, some older women from the village constantly entering and leaving the room getting fresh towels and water, and Sunna was constantly crying, praying and SCREAMING... and they said he wasn't allowed to enter! Although the screaming part at least had stopped a while ago, the crying and praying could still be the now much more quiet mumbling, but he couldn't understand it. The frustration on this day just continued to grow!

Then the door opened and one of the older women looked at him, clearly tired. "She asks for you," she only said.

Ull wasted no more time and entered the room. The smell was awful. The blood he himself had spilled had always been immediately frozen, but here it was fresh, and the towels were full of it. There was also much sweat and vanishing fear in the air, and also HEAT, which nearly made him leave the room immediately. But this was important. Because Sunna, who had been crying and screaming for what must have been hours, was lying in her bed, looking alarmingly weak and tired, but also happy. No, that was not quite it... fulfilled. The smile on her face was one of pride and fulfillment. Hod the hunk was a bit paler than usual and the fingers on his right hand looked a bit off... all red and a bit thinner even? But even he wore a rather silly proud grin. And there was the bundle.

"Ull." Sunna's voice sounded as tired as she was, but it couldn't take away from her happiness. "Come here. Take a look at her."

"Her?" Ull's eyebrow twitched and he walked closer to the bed. "So it's a daughter."

"She, Ull," Sunna gently corrected. "She is a person. Your niece." His sister lifted some layers of cloth and a chubby, red, VERY tiny face was revealed. Considering her facial expression, his niece hadn't had the best day ever either so far. Then the little being opened her eyes and stared at him. "All we have been through... isn't she worth it?"

And as Ull stared back at the newborn, he remembered his Ice Castle, him defeating countless hardened warriors, Sunna's arrival, their life together, her nearly dying, them in their parents' home, starting a new life, and all the hard work that had followed. And as a certain warm feeling began to spread from his chest, he began to smile and looked at his sister. "Yes," he said. "Yes, she is."

* * *

Elsa was ripped out of her mental world by applause. A vision? Now? She or Anna hadn't had one in years. She had thought that they had seen the last one when Ull and Sunna had started a new life. But she didn't have time to wonder about this too much since she had missed the last part of the ceremony and the newly wed couple was currently kissing. A slight flicker of pain shot through her heart, although she overall felt happy and smiled. It was done. Her baby sister was a wife now. All that remained now was the couple leaving the church, then Elsa and the wedding guests following them and parading back to the castle, where the wedding festivities would officially start, although all of Arendelle had probably been celebrating all day long already. And yet, while Anna and Kristoff had stopped the kiss and had turned around, they didn't move. Then Anna looked at Elsa and extended her hand.

"Elsa," her little sister said loud and clearly. "Come."

Elsa blinked, while mumbling started everywhere. At first she didn't know what Anna meant, but then she realized that Anna wanted all three of them, her, Kristoff and Elsa, to leave the church together as some kind of expanded bridal pair.

"Anna," Elsa started, astonished. "This would go against trad..."

"I don't care," Anna interrupted her. The face of her little sister was unusually serious. "Come, Elsa."

Elsa hesitated for a few moments, first looking at the displeased faces of some of the foreign royals and the quite shocked expression of the old churchman. But then she sighed and gave in, linking arms with her sister and preparing herself for more shocked stares outside of the church. Whoever was offended by this, had probably already been offended by other things or even arrived in Arendelle that way. Kristoff at least was failing miserably in trying to hide an amused smile and Anna beamed at her. Well... it was her sister's day. She just couldn't say no.

"I told you."

Elsa barely understood the whispered words of her sister over all the muttering that was filling the church, while the three of them started to walk out of the church. "Told me what?" she whispered back.

"I told you I'd never let you go again, Elsa."

And in this moment all of Elsa's worries left her completely. Perhaps this – hopefully – last vision was right and bonds like their new one were too powerful to simply fade away in time. Anna wouldn't let it come to this. Her sister's heart was too big, no matter that her new brother-in-law was here to stay now, no matter how many children Anna would finally have, Elsa would always be a treasured family member. For the first time since the shared part of their childhood Elsa looked at the future with her sister's optimism. Her eyes watered and a true smile appeared on the queen's face, as she gently squeezed Anna's arm.

"I don't want you to," she repeated softly what she had told Anna on this fateful night, when after a series of horrible incidences they had finally been able to embrace each other again for the first time after thirteen long years. She meant it just as much as back then. And then the new family exited the church and headed home, three happy smiles never leaving their faces.

* * *

Hod is another god of winter and yes, he's Sunna's Kristoff. I would really LOVE to know what you think of the overall story now that it's finished. Please leave a review, I really appreciate them!


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